WHO: ADF Chief Counsel Benjamin Bull and Senior Counsels Glen Lavy and Jordan Lorence
WHAT: Press conference following oral arguments for California marriage cases, including
Proposition 22 Legal Defense and Education Fund v. City and County of San Francisco
WHEN: Immediately following hearing, which begins at 9 a.m. PST, Tuesday, March 4
WHERE: California Supreme Court, 350 McAllister St., San Francisco
SAN FRANCISCO — Alliance Defense Fund attorneys will be available to answer questions from the media Tuesday at the California Supreme Court following oral arguments in a group of significant marriage cases. At the hearing, ADF Senior Counsel Glen Lavy will defend California marriage laws that recognize marriage as a union between one man and one woman only.
“The government should promote and encourage strong families. In this case, marriage laws that will do that are under attack by political special interests wishing to further their agenda,” said Lavy. “The law California voters passed defines marriage as the union of one man and one woman. Californians know this is the foundation for strong families. But certain special interest groups are trying to bypass the democratic process by asking the court to redefine marriage.”
Voters overwhelmingly passed Proposition 22, California’s Defense of Marriage Act, in 2000. In March 2005, Superior Court Judge Richard Kramer declared the state’s marriage laws unconstitutional, finding “no rational purpose” to “limit” marriage to the union of one man and one woman, but the California Court of Appeal reversed that decision in October 2006. The case has now reached the California Supreme Court.
ADF attorneys filed the lawsuit Proposition 22 Legal Defense and Education Fund v. City and County of San Francisco to defend California voters. ADF attorneys filed their most recent brief in the case in August 2007 (
www.telladf.org/news/story.aspx?cid=4208). The suit is consolidated with five other marriage cases under the name In re: marriage cases.
A fact sheet is available on the lawsuit at
www.telladf.org/UserDocs/Prop22FactSheet.pdf.
ADF is a legal alliance defending the right to hear and speak the Truth through strategy, training, funding, and litigation.
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