Mass Court gets amendment case

Romney Lawyers: Legislature Illegally Blocking Amendment Banning Gay Marriageby 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
Posted: November 30, 2006 11:00 am ET, Updated 2:00 pm ET
(Boston, Massachusetts) A Supreme Judicial Court justice Thursday declined to rule on a motion to force a proposed amendment banning gay marriage on the ballot in 2008 - instead she passed the issue onto the full court.
A lawyer for Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney implored Justice Judith Cowin to order the Legislature to hold a vote on a proposed amendment banning same-sex marriage, or failing that to direct the Secretary of State William Galvin to place the question on the 2008 ballot bypassing the State House.
The governor, and the group behind the proposed amendment, made their case before Cowin using a private attorney, John Hanify. The legislature was represented by the Attorney General's department.
On November 10 the legislature, meeting in a special joint session to consider the proposed amendment recessed until January 2, without taking a vote. (story) January 2 is the final day in the current session and it is expected no vote will be held, effectively killing the measure.
Hanify told Cowin that the legislature has a long history of killing citizen inspired amendments.
"They've done it repeatedly. They've done it incessantly. It will persist if the court doesn't intervene," Hanify told Cowin, who was among the court's majority that legalized gay marriage three years ago.
Assistant Attorney General Peter Sacks said the motion should be rejected, citing the constitutional separation of powers and the court's own precedent in similar issues.
"The request for relief to try to force the joint session to take action is squarely barred," he said.
But Cowin decided not to issue a ruling. Instead she moved the governor's motion to the full seven-member court. A hearing has been set for Dec. 20 to consider the case.
The proposed amendment was the result of a signature gathering campaign mounted by conservative groups. More than the required number of names were collected, sending the issue to the Constitutional Convention where it needs only the support of only 50 lawmakers - 25 percent of the House and Senate - in two constitutional conventions for it to be put to voters in 2008.
If the convention fails to vote on January 2 supporters of the amendment would have to begin collecting signatures all over again in an attempt to place it before voters in 2010.
Even if the measure were to pass on January 2 it would need a second round of approval in the new session of legislature - something considered even more unlikely.
But if the court orders Secretary of State William Galvin to put the question directly on the 2008 ballot the legislature would be out of the picture.
Romney has opposed same-sex marriage since the first court case was filed and forced local clerks to adhere to a law dating back to the early part of the last century that said marriage licenses could only be issued to people from out of state if their marriages would be legal where they lived.
In numerous speeches around the country where the Republican governor is trying to drum up support for a presidential bid Romney has attacked same-sex marriage.
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled in November 2003 that the state could not bar same-sex couples from marrying. Since then, more than 8,000 gay and lesbian couples in the state have wed.
Romney was not in court Thursday for the arguments. The governor, whose term ends in January and is expected to run for President in 2008 was in Miami attending the Republican Governors Association meeting.
©365Gay.com 2006