Pro-Family Groups Ask Federal Court to Halt Homosexual 'Marriage' in Massachusetts
by Fred Jackson and Jenni Parker
May 11, 2004
(AgapePress) - With less than a week remaining until same-sex couples will be allowed to marry legally in Massachusetts, conservative groups are making what could be a last attempt to head off legal homosexual marriages in that state.
A Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (MSJC) order to legalize homosexual marriages is due to take effect next Monday. Pro-family groups have tried without success to get state courts to put a halt to the move and are now trying what one legal expert called "a Hail Mary pass" in the federal courts.
The Boston Globe reports that the Christian legal group Liberty Counsel, along with a number of other pro-family groups, filed a motion Monday arguing that the MSJC usurped the constitutional powers of the legislature and the governor when it changed the state's marriage laws last November. According to the motion, this act was a constitutional violation, since the U.S. Constitution guarantees the separation of powers.
The Florida-based Liberty Counsel, the American Family Association Center for Law & Policy, the Thomas More Law Center, and Citizens for the Preservation of Constitutional Rights jointly filed the case in U.S. District Court asking the federal judge to stop the enforcement of the Goodridge v. Department of Public Health ruling, which legalized same-sex marriage in the state. This motion marks the first time the Massachusetts homosexual marriage issue has been brought before the federal courts.
Previously the Thomas More Law Center had filed a petition with a single justice of the MSJC, seeking a hold on the Goodridge decision, but the judge denied the request. Then, last Friday, the Law Center and other groups filed an appeal with the full court, asking it to exercise its authority to stay implementation of Goodridge pending the outcome of the process that is already under way to amend the state constitution and reverse the legalization of same-sex marriage.
The appeal argues that it would be "irresponsible" for the MSJC to "ignore the grave implications" of its decision and forge ahead in light of the process being undertaken to ban same-sex marriage. Still, many conservatives doubt the state's high court will check itself and are looking to the federal courts for relief.
Richard Thompson is president and chief counsel for the Thomas More Law Center. He says a runaway judiciary is destroying America's culture, and if the problem is left unchecked, it will "have far reaching implications on the institution of traditional marriage that go well beyond the borders of Massachusetts." Thompson calls judicial activism "a national problem that must be addressed now."
Mat Staver | |
And Liberty Counsel's spokesman, Matt Staver, says there is no question that the MSJC overstepped its bounds and violated the constitution by impermissibly redefining marriage to include same-sex couples. "The federal courts are obligated to step in to ensure that Massachusetts is following the basic principle of separation of powers that is vital to our very system of law and government," he says.Staver notes that this principle is essential to a republican form of government, and he says Liberty Counsel is "confident that the federal courts will act to restrain this abuse of power" by the Massachusetts high court.
