To: longtermmemmory
Well, this is Sensenbrenner's reaction to the Mass court decision:
Sensenbrenner Statement on Todays Massachusetts State Court Ruling Regarding Same-Sex Marriage
WASHINGTON, D.C. - House Judiciary Committee Chairman F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr. (R-Wis.) released the following statement regarding todays ruling by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court:
While the decision of the Massachusetts court is unsettling for many reasons - including its reference to evolving constitutional standards and its reliance on a decision by a court in Ontario, Canada - it is important to note that the decision of the Massachusetts court today addressed only the requirements of Massachusetts law, and not federal law. In fact, federal law under the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) already provides that other states need not recognize marriage licenses granted to same-sex couples under Massachusetts law or any other state law. I expect state and federal courts will appropriately enforce DOMA.
If the people of Massachusetts and their Legislature wish to address todays ruling, I would encourage them to follow Hawaiis actions when it faced a similar ruling by the Hawaii Supreme Court in 1997: Hawaii enacted a state constitutional amendment in 1999 providing marriage as between one man and one woman.
As someone who lives in Massachusetts and just recently got married, I'd really like to see something done before the 180 days are up and same sex couples can start picking up their licenses. I'd like to know that marriage license in Massachusetts will remain a meaningful document, not a part of the rapid decline of values.
12 posted on
11/19/2003 12:41:51 PM PST by
livianne
To: livianne
Somewhat good statement. However, based on the reports in the media, the only way to ammend the Mass constitution is by election. This is not set to happen untill 2006.
Homosexual Senator Barny frank was stating that there was going to be two years of homosexuals having marriages licenses. He was saying lets try it for two years. (would anyone allow a child molester to take care of their children for two years to see what happens?)
Is there a way for mass to amend the Mass constitution within 180 days?
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