MADISON, Wis. — Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund submitted a
friend-of-the-court brief Thursday to the Wisconsin Supreme Court on behalf of the
Wisconsin Family Council in defense of the state’s marriage amendment, which a lower court upheld as constitutional.
“Voters passed the marriage amendment in Wisconsin for one clear and simple reason: to protect the institution of marriage. As the lower court accurately ruled, the amendment does not unconstitutionally address multiple subjects, and we trust the high court will agree,” said ADF Litigation Counsel Jim Campbell. “The Wisconsin Supreme Court should reject this baseless attempt to do away with the state marriage amendment, which was overwhelmingly passed by voters just three years ago.”
In November 2006, 59 percent of Wisconsin voters approved the state’s marriage amendment, which spurred University of Wisconsin professor William McConkey to file the lawsuit
McConkey v. Doyle against the governor in July 2007. In a technical argument, McConkey claims that the amendment unconstitutionally addresses two subjects instead of one.
ADF attorneys argue, as they have in
previous friend-of-the-court briefs, that the amendment deals with only one issue--preserving and protecting the institution of marriage--and therefore does not violate the requirement that a state constitutional provision address only one subject. A Dane County Circuit judge ruled in favor of the amendment in May 2008, agreeing that the amendment’s sole purpose is “the preservation of the unique and historical status of marriage.”
ADF attorneys submitted their latest
friend-of-the-court brief on behalf of the Wisconsin Family Council in the lawsuit, now named
McConkey v. Van Hollen, together with ADF-allied attorney Samuel Taylor of Kenosha, Wisconsin. In conjunction with the brief, ADF attorneys submitted a motion for permission to file the brief.
ADF is a legal alliance of Christian attorneys and like-minded organizations defending the right of people to freely live out their faith. Launched in 1994, ADF employs a unique combination of strategy, training, funding, and litigation to protect and preserve religious liberty, the sanctity of life, marriage, and the family.
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