Liberty Counsel Seeks to Defend California's Marriage Amendment

Liberty Counsel's motion to intervene asks the Court for permission to join as a party in all three cases on behalf of Campaign for California Families.

SAN FRANCISCO (Liberty Counsel) - Liberty Counsel is filing a motion to intervene to defend against three lawsuits filed at the California Supreme Court by same-sex marriage advocates. The lawsuits, which were filed last week, are asking the Court to overturn the California Marriage Protection Act (Proposition 8) recently passed by California voters. Liberty Counsel represents the Campaign for California Families.

Same-sex marriage advocates erroneously argue that Proposition 8 was an illegal constitutional revision. But a revision covers multiple subjects, whereas an amendment is a single subject, as in this case. Moreover, the amendment was in the process long before the California Supreme Court's decision in May 2008. The same-sex marriage advocates argue it violates the equal protection clause of the California Constitution, which they say protects minorities' rights against the majority vote.

Proposition 8 opponents are requesting California to withhold issuing all marriage licenses, including licenses for heterosexual couples. The lawsuits were filed by the ACLU, National Center for Lesbian Rights, Lambda Legal, Santa Clara County, the city of San Francisco, the city of Los Angeles, and Los Angeles lawyer, Gloria Allred, on behalf of a lesbian couple.

Liberty Counsel's motion to intervene asks the Court for permission to join as a party in all three cases on behalf of Campaign for California Families. The Amendment passed with 52% of the votes and states: "Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California." Now that it has been passed, the Amendment will nullify the 4-3 ruling of the California Supreme Court issued on May 15.

Mathew D. Staver, Founder of Liberty Counsel and Dean of Liberty University School of Law, commented: "The proponents of same-sex marriage have thrown a 'Hail Mary' pass with no receivers down field. The law suit seeking to block Proposition 8 is patently frivolous. The people have a right to amend their constitution. It is amazing how much effort has been put in this battle to keep the people from deciding the future of marriage. It makes no sense that four judges can re-write the historic definition of marriage and more than 5 million people cannot restore it to its common understanding as the union of one man and one woman."

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Liberty Counsel is a nonprofit litigation, education and policy organization dedicated to advancing religious freedom, the sanctity of human life and the traditional family. Established in 1989, Liberty Counsel is a nationwide organization with offices in Florida, Virginia, and Washington, D.C., and hundreds of affiliate attorneys across the Nation.