NEWS FROM OREGON

From the Associated Press: "High court makes move in gay marriage lawsuit": The Oregon Supreme Court took a step toward wading into the state's gay marriage legal thicket.

The court asked lawyers Wednesday to submit written arguments by noon Monday on whether a Portland citizen had adequate grounds to bring a lawsuit asking the state's top court to order Multnomah County to stop issuing same-sex marriage licenses.

The step is preliminary and doesn't mean the Supreme Court will make the unusual move of agreeing to rule on an issue that hasn't been decided by lower courts. ...

In a nonbinding opinion issued last week, Myers said Multnomah County was breaking the state's marriage law by allowing same-sex couples to get marriage licenses. But he also said the state Supreme Court would likely overturn the law as unconstitutional.

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From The Oregonian: "DOMA amendment drive gearing up": A statewide initiative campaign to block same-sex marriages will focus on amending the Oregon Constitution because of recent legal opinions from Attorney General Hardy Myers and others, organizers said Wednesday.

They will withdraw another proposal that would have changed state statutes to specify marriage as being only between a man and a woman. Their reason: Myers and other government lawyers have made clear the critical question is whether blocking same-sex marriages violates the constitution. ...

Changing the constitution would require a statewide vote, and some churches already are starting voter registration drives in preparation for gathering signatures to qualify an initiative for the November general election.

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From KGW Northwest NewsChannel 8: "Recall effort against two Mult. County commissioners gets rolling": Multnomah County organizers of a recall effort to oust county commission chairperson Diane Linn and fellow commissioner Lisa Naito from office say signatures and volunteers are nearly overwhelming their ability to coordinate them all.

...The Christian Coalition of Oregon, the primary organizers of the recall, had to install a second phone line and ask for more volunteers at their office in Oregon City to handle the heavy call volumes and mail requests, said executive director John Belgarde.

"We're just getting an over-the-top response on this--big time," said an exhausted Belgarde, whose cell phone hasn't really stopped ringing since Multnomah County began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples in early March.

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posted by Eve at 6:12 PM VOTE

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