U.S. Supreme Court refuses to intervene; marriage licenses will be handed out Wednesday.
The U.S. Supreme Court refused to intervene in the Washington, D.C., marriage battle, which means same-sex couples can get married in the District of Columbia beginning Wednesday.
The Alliance Defense Fund had filed an appeal Monday with Chief Justice John Roberts over the District’s refusal to let the people vote on the issue of marriage.
In December, the D.C. City Council overwhelmingly approved a bill to legalize same-sex marriage; the law is set to go into effect Wednesday. The U.S. Congress oversees the District, but has not taken action on the new law.
Marriage advocates want D.C. voters to decide the definition of marriage.
“The people have a right to have the final say on any law regarding marriage passed by the D.C. Council,” said Austin R. Nimocks, senior legal counsel of the Alliance Defense Fund. “The D.C. Charter makes that right clear, and officials should not be ignoring the right of the people to vote for or against the new definition of marriage fabricated by the council.
“The district’s marriage-redefinition law shouldn’t go into effect until voters have the opportunity to vote on a critical matter that affects everyone in the district.”
Today’s Supreme Court ruling does not end the initiative already begun in the District to overturn the law.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Bruce Hausknecht, judicial analyst at Focus on the Family Action, is blogging on D.C. marriage at DriveThru.
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