LINCOLN, Neb., and NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Rulings in favor of marriage in Nebraska and Tennessee today brought the number of marriage-related victories involving attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund to six in less than two weeks.
In Nebraska, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit reversed a district court decision that declared as unconstitutional that state’s constitutional amendment recognizing marriage as the union of one man and one woman. At the same time, the Tennessee Supreme Court ruled against the American Civil Liberties Union in its bid to stop voters from having a say on a similar proposed amendment in that state.
“Today’s two court rulings have correctly focused on the legal aspects of marriage, rather than caving to political special interests,” said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Chris Stovall. “These strong decisions today reaffirm that same-sex ‘marriage’ is not inevitable. They also demonstrate that there are judges who respect the rights of voters and have a clear understanding of what marriage is in terms of the law and the reasons why the state regulates and encourages it.”
In Nebraska, the 8th Circuit ruled that no federal fundamental right to same-sex “marriage” exists and that the U.S. Supreme Court has indeed ruled on the matter. The 8th Circuit opinion states that the same-sex “marriage” proponents who filed the Nebraska case disregarded “the expressed intent of traditional marriage laws—to encourage heterosexual couples to bear and raise children in committed marriage relationships.” The court concluded that Nebraska’s laws “limiting the state-recognized institution of marriage to heterosexual couples are rationally related to legitimate state interests and therefore do not violate the Constitution of the United States.” A full copy of the decision in
Citizens for Equal Protection v. Bruning can be read at
www.telladf.org/UserDocs/BruningOpinion.pdf.
ADF filed a friend-of-the-court brief (
www.telladf.org/UserDocs/BruningAmicus.pdf) on behalf of Focus on the Family and the Family Research Council in the appeal of the Nebraska case after a district court judge declared the state’s marriage amendment unconstitutional (
www.telladf.org/news/story.aspx?cid=3424). The decision today by the 8th Circuit reinstates the Nebraska amendment, which 70 percent of the state’s voters adopted in 2000.
In Tennessee, in a significant victory for marriage supporters in that state, the Tennessee Supreme Court ruled in favor of state legislators represented by ADF. The ACLU argued that the state’s proposed marriage amendment had not been published for the public in a timely manner; however, the high court found that the ACLU lacked standing to sue because it “failed to establish a distinct, concrete injury in fact resulting from the alleged untimely publication of the Marriage Amendment” and that it also “failed to establish any causal connection between their claimed injuries and the alleged illegality—untimely publication.”
“The court rightly stopped the ACLU of Tennessee from stopping the democratic process; Tennesseans may now vote to protect marriage in this state,” said ADF-allied attorney David Maddox. Maddox assisted ADF Senior Legal Counsel Byron Babione, who argued the case,
ACLU of Tennessee v. Darnell, before the Tennessee Supreme Court on June 7 (
www.telladf.org/news/story.aspx?cid=3771). The full text of today’s decision can be read at
www.telladf.org/UserDocs/DarnellOpinion.pdf.
“These two decisions thwarted Lambda Legal and ACLU efforts to use the courts to circumvent the democratic process. These groups hope to impose radical and irrational notions of marriage on the very people who plainly reject them. Marriage, the people, and the rule of law are all victors today,” said Senior Legal Counsel Chris Stovall.
The two victories add to four other legal victories in the last nine days:
- On Wednesday, a Connecticut judge ruled that state law providing for marriage only for opposite sex couples does not violate the state’s constitution. The Alliance Defense Fund authored a friend-of-the-court brief in the case on behalf of the Family Research Council.
- On Monday, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court unanimously shut down a legal challenge to a proposed state constitutional amendment defining marriage as one man and one woman (www.telladf.org/news/story.aspx?cid=3797).
- On July 6, the Georgia Supreme Court unanimously upheld the constitutionality of that state’s marriage amendment (www.telladf.org/news/story.aspx?cid=3793) and New York’s highest court refused to redefine marriage, choosing to leave the question to the state legislature (www.telladf.org/news/story.aspx?cid=3792).
For more information on the battle to protect marriage, visit
www.domawatch.org.
ADF is a legal alliance defending the right to hear and speak the Truth through strategy, training, funding, and litigation.
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