Liberty Counsel: Passage of Oregon Marriage Amendment Renders Pending Challenges Moot
The Liberty Counsel has filed supplementary amicus briefs to the Oregon Supreme Court arguing that the recent passage of the marriage amendment should render any pending challenges to state's marriage law moot.
Liberty Counsel submitted Tuesday a supplemental brief asking the Oregon Supreme Court to dismiss ACLU challenges to Oregon’s marriage laws in light of the passage of the Oregon Marriage Amendment on Nov. 2.
According to Liberty Counsel, a national public interest firm, the passage of the amendment defining marriage between a man and a woman rendered the legal challenge by American Civil Liberties Union moot.
“The people of Oregon have spoken loud and clear that marriage should be between one man and one woman,” stated Mathew D. Staver, president and general counsel of Liberty Counsel.
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On Election Day, 56 percent of Oregonians voted in favor of the amendment while 43 percent opposed it.
Like many other states, Oregon’s debate over same-sex marriage began intensifying earlier this year when the San Francisco Mayor was allowing same-sex couples to be married and same-sex marriage in Massachusetts was being considered before the state Supreme Court. Multnomah County in Portland began issuing same-sex marriage licenses on March 3. When the constitutionality of the same-sex marriage licenses were challenged, two lower courts agreed the marriage licenses already issued to same-sex couples should be registered but the second court of appeals sent the case to the Supreme Court for a final ruling on the validity of the licenses.
Although the Oregon Supreme Court already accepted briefs in the case, it requested supplemental briefing to address whether the pending challenge to the marriage law is moot.
“The passage of the marriage amendment defines marriage as one man and one woman. The argument that the Oregon constitution allows for same-sex marriage is absolutely ridiculous - and, more importantly, that argument is contrary to the will of the people of Oregon,” Staver said.
He concluded, “Liberty Counsel will fight to make sure that the voice of the people in Oregon is heard and not stifled by liberal activists bent on discounting the voice of the people who overwhelmingly favor traditional marriage.”
