ANN ARBOR, MI, May 10, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – With only a week remaining until same-sex couples will be allowed to legally marry in Massachusetts, the Thomas More Law Center and several other pro-family groups have opened up a new front by filing a federal lawsuit. The suit claims that the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court exceeded its authority by redefining marriage thereby violating the U.S. Constitution’s guarantee of a republican form of government.
The Thomas More Law Center joined Liberty Counsel, Citizens for the Preservation of Constitutional Rights, and AFA Center for Law and Policy in asking a federal judge to stop the enforcement of Goodridge v. Department of Public Health, the decision which legalized so called “same-sex marriage.” Under the Massachusetts constitution, it is the role of the legislature and not the courts to define marriage for the Commonwealth. By accepting jurisdiction to hear the Goodridge case in the first instance and by redefining marriage to permit same-sex couples to marry, says the lawsuit, the Massachusetts high court exceeded the powers granted it and thereby violated the federal constitutional guarantee that prevents one branch of government from acting above the law. Richard Thompson, President and Chief Counsel for the Law Center, commented, “Judicial activism is destroying our culture. The Goodridge decision, if left unchecked, will have far reaching implications on the institution of traditional marriage that go well beyond the borders of Massachusetts. This is a national problem that must be addressed now.”