OLYMPIA, Wash. — In a 5 to 4 decision, the Washington Supreme Court today declared the state’s law defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman constitutional, reversing two lower court decisions that threw out the law. The decision marks the seventh victory this month in marriage cases around the country in which the Alliance Defense Fund has had involvement.
“Marriage has become an emotional issue because political special interests are trying to reduce it to nothing more than a benefits system for loving couples. Legally, marriage is about much more than that,” said ADF Senior Counsel Glen Lavy. “Marriage licenses don’t certify one person’s love for another person; they provide a legal framework to protect the children that result from the marriage.”
“This is a great day for Washington and a great day for the democratic process,” Lavy added. “Today’s victory shows that this court has refused to engage in judicial activism. The legislature passed a completely constitutional law when it enacted the state’s DOMA on behalf of the people of Washington, and the court today recognized that.”
In their opinion issued today, the justices stated that “the plaintiffs have not established that as of today sexual orientation is a suspect classification or that a person has a fundamental right to a same-sex marriage.” The full text of the court’s opinion can be read at
www.telladf.org/UserDocs/AndersenOpinion.pdf.
“The Washington Supreme Court has followed the law. They’ve recognized that the proper role of the judiciary is to apply the law, not create the law,” said Steve O’Ban, lead counsel for intervenor defendants and an ADF-allied attorney with the Seattle firm Ellis, Li & McKinstry.
O’Ban and ADF attorneys represented African-American clergy, state lawmakers, and others in the case who have been defending marriage in the state of Washington.
The case,
Andersen v. King County, which was consolidated with another lawsuit,
Castle v. State of Washington, made its way to the Washington Supreme Court after a lower court ruled Washington’s Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional on Aug. 4, 2004. That court stayed its ruling until the state Supreme Court could hear the matter (
www.telladf.org/news/pressrelease.aspx?cid=2775).
Eight same-sex couples to whom King County officials denied marriage licenses filed the lawsuit in the Superior Court of Washington for King County on Mar. 8, 2004, at the invitation of King County Executive Ron Sims.
ADF is a legal alliance defending the right to hear and speak the Truth through strategy, training, funding, and litigation.
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