Otter files appeal to U.S. Supreme Court in gay marriage case
Idaho Gov. Butch Otter has filed a petition appealing the legalization of same-sex marriage in Idaho to the U.S. Supreme Court, saying the state’s case is the “ideal vehicle” to resolve the issue for the nation; you can read my full story here at spokesman.com. “The time has come for this court to resolve a question of critical importance to the states, their citizens and especially their children: Whether the federal Constitution prohibits a state from maintaining the traditional understanding and definition of marriage as between a man and a woman,” Otter’s Washington, D.C. attorney, Gene Schaerr, wrote in the 41-page petition.
Otter argues that the high court should take up Idaho’s appeal either in addition to or instead of a 6th Circuit case already pending before the court with a similar petition. “It is important that at least one of the cases this court considers on the merits be a case in which the traditional definition of marriage has been defended with the most robust defense available,” Schaerr wrote. “This is that case.”
Same-sex marriage became legal in Idaho on Oct. 15, after the state lost its appeal in the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. Four lesbian couples – two who wanted to marry, and two who wanted their home state to recognize their legal out-of-state marriages – sued in federal court, and won their case last May. Their attorney, Deborah Ferguson, already has pledged to defend the decision. “The 9th Circuit decided it correctly, and we will vigorously defend the decision,” she said today.
