Wyoming and nine other states signed onto a legal brief Friday claiming a federal court "exceeded its judicial authority" when it ruled that the U.S. Constitution requires legal marriage to include same-sex couples.Dogs and cats living together! Married people not having sex! Polyamority!
In the amicus brief, which was set to be filed late Friday afternoon with the 9th U.S. Court of Appeals, the states criticized a California federal judge's ruling last month that California's Proposition 8, a voter-passed ban on same-sex marriage, was illegal on federal constitutional grounds.
In the ruling, Judge Vaughn Walker wrote that there was no legitimate state interest in preventing same-sex marriages and that "moral disapproval" alone wasn't sufficient reason to justify banning it.
The case, Perry vs. Schwarzenegger, is currently on appeal. Lawyers for both sides have said they expect the case to ultimately reach the U.S. Supreme Court.
The other states joining the brief are Alabama, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, South Carolina, Utah and Virginia.
Among other points, the 39-page brief asserts that same-sex marriage is not a fundamental right; questions the legal grounds of the decision; and holds that individual states, not the federal court system, have final say in decisions about whether to allow same-sex marriages.
The brief also states that Walker's definition of marriage as the state's approval of a couple's choice to live with, commit to and form a household and economic partnership with each other is a "staggeringly broad" definition that could open the door to polyamorous or even non-sexual marriages.
Why is this the business of the State of Wyoming?
1 comment:
OK, we sign onto Perry vs. Schwarzenegger but not healthcare. Gov stands next to Peterson but dosen't endorse her. Is this a movie we are in?
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