Attorney Hails Dismissal of Eighth Suit Challenging Florida Marriage Laws
by Allie Martin
April 5, 2006
(AgapePress) - - The final lawsuit challenging marriage laws in Florida has been withdrawn following a move last week by the Florida Supreme Court, which cleared the way for a state constitutional amendment protecting traditional marriage to go before the voters.
Attorneys representing the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) withdrew the suit, the last of eight filed in Florida in an attempt to challenge the state's established marriage laws. One of the NCLR's legal representatives is the same attorney that argued against allowing Florida voters a chance to vote on amending the state constitution to protect marriage as the union of one man and one woman.
Mat Staver | |
The Florida Supreme Court heard oral arguments on the amendment on February 8, 2006. Mat Staver, president and general counsel of the pro-family legal group Liberty Counsel, argued in favor of the constitutional amendment, and the NCLR attorney was also present. Those proceedings did not go well for the lesbian group and for the American Civil Liberties Union: in a unanimous opinion, the state high court upheld the language of the marriage protection amendment.The NCLR's legal counsel in the case of Higgs v. Kolhage filed papers on February 13, 2006, requesting dismissal of the lesbian group's lawsuit. Staver suspects NCLR and its attorneys recognized that the Higgs case, which challenged state marriage laws, would fare no better before the court than their opposition to the Florida marriage amendment had done.
"They now realize that with the amendment going to the Floridians for vote, it's a futile process to challenge the Florida laws that protect marriage as one man and one woman," the Liberty Counsel spokesman says.
Five other cases involving same-sex marriage were filed in state court but dismissed last year. Their dismissal followed on the heels of a federal court decision in the Florida case of Wilson v. Ake, which upheld Florida's marriage laws in January 2005 and rejected an attempt to extend Massachusetts same-sex "marriage" to Florida.
And now that the Florida Supreme Court has issued its 7-0 decision on the Florida constitutional amendment, thereby allowing the amendment to go to the polls and let the people decide marriage, Staver feels it is clear why the National Center for Lesbian Rights decided to dismiss their case. "This is good news," he says, "and I think it shows that when people stand up, they can make a difference."
When the voters are given a choice, the pro-family attorney contends, "they always choose marriage as the union of only one man and one woman." Nevertheless, he cautions, "Although all eight court challenges against Florida's marriage laws are over, voters can only be certain of protecting marriage through the passage of a state constitutional amendment."
Meanwhile, Staver points out, to successfully defend marriage "we must win all of the time. One loss can create a ripple effect around the country." Courts did not create marriage and must not be allowed to destroy it, Liberty Counsel's president asserts; therefore, efforts to pass state and federal constitutional marriage amendments must continue to move forward.
Allie Martin, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
