Liberty Counsel Sees Progress in Multiple Marriage Defense Cases
by Allie Martin
April 8, 2005
(AgapePress) - New York's highest court has declined to hear two appeals involving separate same-sex marriage cases. In Hernandez v. Robles, a Manhattan judge struck down the state's marriage laws; however, state marriage laws were upheld in the case of Samuels v. New York State Department of Health.Following the conflicting rulings in the lower courts, both of the same-sex marriage-related cases were appealed directly to the Court of Appeals, the state's supreme judicial body. However, that high court declined to take jurisdiction over the two appeals and sent them back to the Appellate Division.
Liberty Counsel, a pro-family legal group, filed briefs in both cases in defense of marriage laws. Attorney Mat Staver, president of Liberty Counsel, says the Court of Appeals' decision not to hear the appeals was the correct one. "This means that we'll have another shot at the appellate court level," he says, "to make sure that the [marriage] laws in New York are preserved as the union of one man and one woman."
Mat Staver | |
Next, Staver says, two appellate courts will be asked to affirm marriage laws already on the books in New York. The good news in the latest developments, he explains, is that "instead of fast-tracking the marriage cases to the state's highest court for a final decision, these cases will now go a slower track -- first through the appeals court, and then possibly, eventually, to the state's highest court."In the meantime, the attorney adds, "New York's marriage laws continue to preserve marriage as the union of one man and one woman." He says Liberty Counsel's objective in asking the appellate courts to affirm New York's marriage laws in the disparate cases is to eliminate any conflict among the courts regarding the constitutionality of the state's marriage laws.
Staver contends that marriage, as a fundamental social policy, must be established by the people and not reengineered by the courts. Liberty Counsel will be filing briefs in support of New York's marriage laws in both of the lower appellate courts. The Hernandez ruling, which struck down New York's marriage laws, is stayed pending the appeal.
Meanwhile in Florida, same-sex marriage advocates have now dismissed seven of eight lawsuits filed in the state in challenge of its marriage laws. The dismissal of these cases follows on the heels of a federal court ruling in the case of Wilson v. Ake, in which Florida's marriage laws were upheld earlier this year.
Liberty Counsel filed motions to intervene in each of the eight cases to defend the marriage laws of Florida. Of these cases, Staver notes, "Although seven of the eight court challenges have been dismissed, Florida voters can only take comfort in protecting marriage through the passage of a state constitutional amendment."
A large coalition of Florida groups is promoting a citizen initiative to pass a state constitutional amendment. The proposed measure, planned for a statewide vote in 2006, states that, "inasmuch as marriage is the legal union of only one man and one woman as husband and wife, no other legal union that is treated as marriage or the substantial equivalent thereof shall be valid or recognized." The petition in support of the amendment is accessible at Liberty Counsel's website.
