august 6. 2004 » J llS t O llt j7
ìnewsbriefs
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W ashington C ourt
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n what attorneys are calling “a historic ruling
for fairness and equality” issued Aug. 4 in
Seattle, a Washington state court ruled that
same-sex couples must he allowed to marry.
King County Superior Court Judge William
Downing said that the Washington Constitu
tion guarantees basic rights to gay and lesbian
people— and that those rights are violated by a
state law prohibiting same-sex couples from
marrying. The ruling said that the constitution
requires same-sex couples to have equal access
to marriage and that the eight plaintiff couples
must be given marriage licenses.
"This is a huge victory and a historic day,” said
Kevin Cathcart, executive director of Lambda
Legal, which served as co-counsel with the
Northwest Women’s Law Center. “The court rec
ognized that unless gay people can marry, we are
not being treated equally under the law. Same-sex
couples need the protections and security mar
riage provides, and this ruling says we’re entitled
to get them the same way straight couples do."
Downing called the couples “law-abiding,
taxpaying model citizens” and said, “There is no
worthwhile institution that they would dishonor,
much less destroy.” His ruling added: “The char
acteristics embodied by these plaintiffs are ones
that our society and the institution of marriage
need more of, not less. Let the plaintiffs stand as
inspirations for all those citizens, homosexual
and heterosexual, who may follow their path.”
The county and the state are expected to
appeal the ruling, and the Washington Supreme
Court may take the case directly and hear argu
B
Heather Andersen and Leslie Christian, successful businesswomen who have been together for
14 years, sued the state of Washington for the right to marry
ments on an expedited basis. Attorney Jennifer
Pizer, who played a key role in two legal victories at
the high court in 2001, believes the justices have a
track record of treating same-sex couples equally.
“The Washington Supreme Court will look
closely at the important issues this case raises
and come to the same conclusion the lower
court reached,” she said. “Our clients pay all the
same taxes as their neighbors and co-workers,
and they deserve all the same legal protections.”
T he Washington ruling goes further than
an Oregon state court ruling earlier this year,
which said the state’s law prohibiting marriage
between same-sex couples was unconstitu
tional but went on to say that civil unions or
other measures could provide adequate pro
tections to gay and lesbian couples. “We
sought full marriage with this case— nothing
more and nothing less— and that’s what we
got," Pizer said.
Milgard Windows
F u ll
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B a sic
y a 233-194 vote July 22, the House passed
a measure that would strip courts of juris
diction over challenges to an anti-gay federal
marriage law and block access for same-sex cou
ples to the judicial system.
The Marriage Protection A ct seeks to deny
the U .S. Supreme Court and all other federal
courts the ability to consider any challenges to
the cross-state recognition section o f the
Defense of Marriage Act. It would deny gay and
lesbian couples the right to even have their day
in federal court, thereby violating both the
Equal Protection Clause and the separation of
powers principle.
While no companion bill has been intro
duced in the Senate, if this measure were to
become law, DOM A could only be challenged
in state courts. Because the bill strips the
Supreme Court of jurisdiction to hear such chal
lenges, legal chaos could ensue, with as many as
50 different interpretations of DO M A, as each
state supreme court would be the final authority
on the law’s constitutionality.
U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., called
the bill an assault on civil liberties. He added
that it sets a dangerous precedent, threatening
the safeguards between the judicial branch and
the two other branches of government and
depriving the federal courts of their traditional
role as interpreters of the U .S. Constitution.
“ It is unfortunate that the president and the
Republican leadership have chosen to politicize
the issue of gay marriage," Blumenauer said. “It
is an outrageous assault on our system of checks
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