MA HOUSE SPEAKER SAYS COURT DIDN'T FORCE SSM: From the Boston Globe

House Speaker Thomas M. Finneran said yesterday that the Supreme Judicial Court did not force the Legislature to enact gay marriage immediately, but instead sent the divisive issue into the political arena, where lawmakers will face "heartfelt" decisions based on their beliefs as
much as the law.

Finneran, who until yesterday had not spoken publicly on the historic Nov. 18 ruling, said he sees three options for the Legislature: a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage, a civil unions bill for same-sex couples, or doing nothing and letting the ruling stand. He has not
decided which approach he prefers. ...

Several constitutional scholars disagree, however, that the Legislature can pass a bill to get around the SJC's ruling.

Laurence Tribe, a Harvard Law School professor and constitutional specialist who has followed the SJC's ruling closely, said he concurs with Finneran's assertion that the Legislature has the option of amending the
constitution, a process that will take until at least 2006, or of doing nothing. Inaction, he said, would result in same-sex couples marrying next spring, when the court's 180-day stay on the decision is up.

But passing a civil union alternative to marriage for same-sex couples or merely defining marriage as a heterosexual institution by statute would not suffice, Tribe said. The ruling, he noted, was explicit in discussing marriage as a unique institution that confers a desired status in society.

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posted by Eve at 2:35 PM VOTE

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