{"id":6658,"date":"2014-06-18T08:04:00","date_gmt":"2014-06-18T08:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/news\/attorney-courts-overturning-marriage-laws-use-raw-judicial-power-85838\/"},"modified":"2014-06-18T08:04:00","modified_gmt":"2014-06-18T08:04:00","slug":"attorney-courts-overturning-marriage-laws-use-raw-judicial-power","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2014\/06\/attorney-courts-overturning-marriage-laws-use-raw-judicial-power\/","title":{"rendered":"Attorney: courts overturning marriage laws use ‘raw judicial power’"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

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Denver, Colo., Jun 18, 2014 \/ 02:04 am (CNA<\/a>).- The judiciary would be exercising \u201craw judicial power\u201d were it to overturn Colorado\u2019s traditional marriage amendment, an attorney at a religious liberty advocacy firm said Monday.<\/p>\n

\tThe court at Adams County District Courthouse in Brighton heard oral arguments in Brinkman et al. v. State of Colorado June 17 \u2013 a suit against the state's marriage amendment.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cIf this judge were to come to a conclusion other than to uphold the will of the people of the state of Colorado, as expressed in the constitutional amendment passed in 2006, and the laws of the state legislature that define marriage as the union of one man and one woman, it would be an exercise in raw judicial power,\u201d Michael Norton, senior counsel with Alliance Defending Freedom, told CNA in an interview outside the courthouse following the hearing.<\/p>\n

\tThe lawsuit began last October when a lesbian couple, Rebecca Brinkman and Margaret Burd,\u00a0 sued the county clerk and recorder for refusing them a marriage license. Civil unions have been legal in Colorado since March of 2013, but the couple wanted a marriage license.<\/p>\n

\tMarriage is recognized in the state as between one man and one woman, according to Amendment 43, which was passed by a majority of voters in 2006.<\/p>\n

\tThe brief by the defendants representing the state argued that \u201credefining marriage would likely harm marriage\u2019s inherent connection to procreation, communicating to the community that marriage\u2019s primary end is to affirm adult desires rather than serve children\u2019s needs, and suppressing the importance of both mothers and fathers to children and their development.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tAttorney John McHugh, representing the plaintiffs, said the marriage amendment denied the couples the \u201cdignity\u201d of the recognition of \u201cmarriage,\u201d as well as their ability to file joint tax returns and receive federal marriage benefits.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cThe plaintiffs bring these claims because the marriage bans actively and significantly harm them and their children,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\tThe two parties clashed over the interpretation of last year\u2019s Supreme Court decision United States v. Windsor.<\/p>\n

\tMichael Francisco, the assistant solicitor general for the attorney general\u2019s office, insisted that the decision \u201cmade clear\u201d that it wouldn\u2019t invalidate existing state marriage laws.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cAlmost the entire substance of the majority opinion in Windsor is premised upon the important historical and traditional power of states to define marriage,\u201d he argued.<\/p>\n

\tNorton echoed that reasoning: \u201cthe majority of the Supreme Court really left unresolved any issue of how, if at all, state marriage laws should be regulated. It\u2019s up to the state to decide, and it\u2019s up to the state elected officials to decide, and the people to decide.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tHowever, the plaintiffs asserted that Windsor requires state bans on same-sex marriage to be struck down.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cThe sole purpose and effect of these laws is to demean and degrade same-sex couples. The Supreme Court found that that singular purpose invalidated DOMA and Justice Scalia and 14 federal court judges have reason that Windsor\u2019s holding requires striking down state same-sex marriage bans,\u201d McHugh stated.<\/p>\n

\tMcHugh also cited divorce laws to argue that marriage is not primarily about childbearing, because marriages can be ended for \u201cany reason whatsoever.\u201d However, Francisco insisted that was exactly the reason why marriage must not be re-defined.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cWhen states debated, not through the courts but through the legislative process, changing and liberalizing the divorce laws, there was an argument that this was going to change the institution of marriage,\u201d he explained, adding that \u201cit\u2019s not fair to say that changing the nature of marriage by adopting liberalized divorce laws did nothing to change the institution of marriage.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tIn the same way, he told district judge C. Scott Crabtree, \u201cif you join with those 18 lower courts, you will be changing what marriage is in Colorado. It will have a real-world consequence. Or, if you\u2019re not willing to go that far, all you have to understand is that it is quite reasonable to believe it will have real-world consequences.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n

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Denver, Colo., Jun 18, 2014 \/ 02:04 am (CNA).- The judiciary would be exercising “raw judicial power” were it to overturn Colorado’s traditional marriage amendment, an attorney at a religious liberty advocacy firm said Monday.<\/p>\n

\tThe …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1031,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6658","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-us"],"yoast_head":"\nAttorney: courts overturning marriage laws use 'raw judicial power'<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Denver, Colo., Jun 18, 2014 \/ 02:04 am (CNA).- The judiciary would be exercising “raw judicial power” were it to overturn Colorado’s traditional marriage amendment, an attorney at a religious liberty advocacy firm said Monday. 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