ADF: Activists denied big victory at NJ Supreme Court,

but judicial activism alive and well, marriage amendments needed

TRENTON, N.J. — New Jersey’s highest court today ruled that “there is no fundamental right to same-sex marriage” but gave the legislature six months to create a structure for same-sex couples to receive all the same benefits of marriage. In December, attorneys for the Alliance Defense Fund coordinated friend-of-the-court briefs and filed one on behalf of the Family Research Council, defending marriage as a union between one man and one woman.

“If marriage can mean anything, then marriage means nothing,” said ADF Senior Counsel Glen Lavy. “This is a wake-up call for people who believe that marriage doesn’t need constitutional protection. The court was right to conclude there is no fundamental right to same-sex ‘marriage,’ but to characterize marriage as just another option along with other ‘unions’ makes marriage meaningless. It’s critical that people vote for marriage amendments like those in Arizona, Virginia, and Wisconsin, which prevent a court from giving same-sex couples marriage in everything but name only.”

“Nine major court rulings this year have said that marriage is for the people and the legislature to decide,” Lavy added (see  

www.telladf.org/issues/traditionalfamily/samesexmarriage

.aspx?cid=3816).  “In 20 states, the people have spoken by adopting amendments to protect marriage--by an average margin of 71 percent. We need such amendments to stop the kind of judicial activism found in this decision.”

The opinion issued by the court today reversed a June 2005 New Jersey appellate court decision finding that keeping marriage between one man and one woman did not violate the state constitution (www.telladf.org/news/story.aspx?cid=3457).

“Legally, marriage is the state’s way of protecting children by ensuring that whenever possible they are raised by their own mother and father,” said Lavy. “Because same-sex couples can’t procreate, this vital state interest is not advanced by handing out marriage licenses to same-sex couples. The court declined to address this issue because the attorney general specifically refused to make the argument.”

A copy of the opinion issued today by the Supreme Court of New Jersey in the case Lewis v. Harris can be read at www.telladf.org/UserDocs/HarrisOpinion.pdf.

For more information on the battle to protect marriage, visit www.domawatch.org. www.telladf.org