LA. MARRIAGE AMENDMENT THROWN OUT BY COURT: From the New Orleans Times-Picayune

A recently adopted constitutional ban on same-sex marriage was thrown out Tuesday by a state judge who said lawmakers improperly passed the measure last spring.

An appeal of East Baton Rouge Parish District Judge William Morvant's ruling is expected to be filed with the 1st Circuit Court of Appeal in Baton Rouge by Monday. Seventy-eight percent of the state's voters approved the amendment Sept. 18.

Morvant, a Republican, said the amendment is flawed because, while the state Constitution prevents a law or constitutional amendment from having more than one purpose or objective, it contains two "objects":
-- Defining what a legal marriage is by specifying that it can exist only between one man and one woman while constitutionally prohibiting same-sex marriages.
-- Preventing the state from recognizing "a legal status identical or substantially similar to that of marriage for any unmarried individuals."

As adopted, Morvant said, the measure would prevent civil unions, domestic partnerships and other relationships between gay or straight couples -- a measure that should have been addressed in a separate constitutional amendment. ...

The judge said his ruling "in no way prohibits the state from introducing a same-sex marriage ban" and a ban on other unions -- as long as they are covered in separate constitutional amendments.

Michael Johnson, a Shreveport attorney for several lawmakers who support the legislation and two conservative groups, said they will appeal the ruling. ...

"We are surprised and disappointed," Johnson said. "A clear reading (of the constitutional amendment) by any layperson shows it has the single object of protecting marriage . . . from all perceived threats. If we are going to defend marriage, we have to do it in one fell swoop" and not with separate amendments.

Although the Louisiana Supreme Court rejected a gay-rights groups' challenge of the amendment in early September, ruling it was not properly filed, Chief Justice Pascal Calogero took a position similar to Morvant's recent ruling.

Calogero wrote that "the proposed amendment compels voters to decide with a single vote whether to deny gay couples both the right to marry and the right to enter into such arrangements as civil unions, and does not permit voters to decide to allow one and not the other."

He added: "There are a significant number of voters who would support permitting gay couples to form civil unions, even though they would deny these couples the right to marry. . . . The court may yet have to address this constitutional question in a post-election challenge."

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posted by Eve at 2:45 PM VOTE

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