Tuesday, June 29, 2004
Goodridge Stands
The last of the lawsuits filed in an effort to block Goodridge, the case that cleared the way for same sex marriage in Massachusetts, has been rejected by the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals. The suit was filed by the Liberty Counsel, argued that the decision violated the United States Constitution, and sought temporary and permanent injunction against enforcement of Goodridge (i.e. please stop issuing marriage licenses to gay couples). From the opinion:
"The resolution of the same-sex marriage issue by the judicial branch of the Massachusetts government, subject to override by the voters through the state constitutional amendment process, does not plausibly constitute a threat to a republican form of government. Absent such a threat, our federal constitutional system simply does not permit a federal court to intervene in the arrangement of state government under the guise of a federal Guarantee Clause question. Such an intervention would itself threaten federal court interference with the very form of government that the people of Massachusetts have chosen for themselves."
Links to the other documents related to the case can be found here, here and here.
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"The resolution of the same-sex marriage issue by the judicial branch of the Massachusetts government, subject to override by the voters through the state constitutional amendment process, does not plausibly constitute a threat to a republican form of government. Absent such a threat, our federal constitutional system simply does not permit a federal court to intervene in the arrangement of state government under the guise of a federal Guarantee Clause question. Such an intervention would itself threaten federal court interference with the very form of government that the people of Massachusetts have chosen for themselves."
Links to the other documents related to the case can be found here, here and here.
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Posted by Rogueslayer at 2:07 PM 
