WESTCHESTER, N.Y. — Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund, representing a group of taxpayers, have filed an appeal of a lower court ruling in a case which alleges that Westchester County Executive Andrew Spano acted illegally when he ordered county agencies to recognize out-of-state same-sex “marriages” for all county purposes.
“Marriage is under attack because certain special interest groups are trying to reduce it to nothing more than a benefits system with no regard for the negative impact it would have on our families and our children,” said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Brian W. Raum. “Same-sex ‘marriages’ performed outside the State of New York are by definition not true marriages. The highest court in New York has ruled that only the legislature has the ability to legally redefine marriage, not public officials who choose to act without authority under the law.”
In August 2006, ADF attorneys filed a lawsuit on behalf of Westchester County taxpayers, alleging that Spano exceeded his constitutional authority when he issued an order mandating county agencies to recognize same-sex couples “married” out-of-state (
www.telladf.org/news/story.aspx?cid=3850). In March 2007, a judge denied a motion for preliminary injunction filed by ADF attorneys and dismissed the case.
A copy of the notice of appeal in Godfrey v. Spano, filed in New York Supreme Court, Westchester County, can be read at
www.telladf.org/UserDocs/SpanoAppeal.pdf.
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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