PENNA. JUDGE LIKELY TO RULE AGAINST LAWMAKERS IN WEIRD LAWSUIT: From the Philadelphia Inquirer; headline is Eve's

A Bucks County Court judge today indicated that he is likely to rule against 12 state representatives suing a New Hope gay couple who want to marry.

Judge Mitchell S. Goldberg told a hearing that he has "serious doubts as to whether plaintiffs' action will survive." ...

On March 15, Robert Seneca and Stephen Stahl were denied a marriage license application by the Bucks County register of wills.

On May 14, the state representatives and a western Pennsylvania firm filed suit asking Bucks County Court for a "declaratory judgment" that the state's marriage laws are constitutional. ...

Glen Lavy, senior counsel at the Scottsdale, Ariz., headquarters of the Alliance Defense Fund--an agency fighting same-sex unions--said in a May interview that the representatives' suit was the first of its kind in the nation. ...

Lavy argued that a declaratory judgment is necessary because "the defendants intend to challenge the constitutionality of marriage laws," through the courts and thus "infringe" on the right of legislators to define marriage through legislation.

The Arizona lawyer said that marriage laws are threatened because Seneca and Stahl had sought a marriage license application and because they had said in newspaper interviews that they intend to challenge the laws. ...

The judge then asked Lavy why the legislators didn't wait until the gay couple had filed a challenge to the marriage laws.

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posted by Eve at 9:03 PM VOTE

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