Gay Marriage Arguments Take Center Stage

By Shannon McCaffrey

ATLANTA - When lawyers appear before Georgia’s top court today to argue the merits of the state’s constitutional ban on gay marriage, they’re likely to have very little to say about one key issue: gay marriage.

The case, which has ignited a political firestorm in Georgia, hinges on whether the state violated a single-subject rule for ballot measures.

“This is an important constitutional issue,” Jack Senterfitt, a lawyer with the LAMBDA Legal Defense and Education Fund in Atlanta, said Monday. “But this is not a case where the court is being asked to issue a ruling on the merits of whether same sex couples should be able to marry.”

At issue is whether a ballot measure, which 76 percent of voters approved in 2004, lumped together same-sex marriages and civil unions in violation of the state’s long-standing single-subject rule.

In May, Fulton Superior Court Judge Constance Russell said that it did and declared the ban unconstitutional. The state immediately appealed, requesting an expedited review of the case despite the fact that the state still has another law on the books making same-sex marriage illegal in Georgia.  Opponents of the ban urged the Georgia Supreme Court to uphold Russell’s ruling.

In a friend of the court brief, 55 law professors in Georgia said the ballot measure "posed a multiple choice question, but only allowed voters to respond 'all of the above' or 'none of the above.'"

The state is arguing that Russell’s ruling is flawed and should be overturned.

In his brief for the state, Attorney General Thurbert Baker said the measure did not violate the subject rule because banning both has the “common purpose of prohibiting same sex marriages” in Georgia.

The amendment states that “no union between persons of the same sex shall be recognized by the state as entitled to the benefits of marriage.”

The case has drawn interest. Two conservative groups - Arizona-based United Families International and the Virginia-based Liberty Counsel - have filed legal briefs supporting the state.

Gov. Sonny Perdue has pledged to call a special session of the state Legislature if the court does not rule by Aug. 7, in order to get a new measure on the ballot for the November election. Having a gay marriage ban on the ballot would likely provide Perdue, who is up for re-election, and his fellow Republicans with a boost. The issue has been shown to energize conservative voters.

The Georgia Supreme Court will Webcast the 10 a.m. oral arguments live at www.gasupreme.us/.

http://www.macon.com/mld/macon/14908468.htm