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 Romney Asks Court To Order Anti-Gay Amendment Put
To Voters
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
Posted: November 24, 2006 1:00 pm ET
(Boston, Massachusetts) Massachusetts Gov. Mitt
Romney asked the state's highest court Friday for an order placing a proposed
amendment that would ban same-sex marriage on the ballot without the approval of
the legislature.
Lawyers for Romney and ten other citizens filed the
motion with a single justice of the court. The motion says the Republican
governor is acting a an individual citizen. It was filed by a private lawyer
representing the group.
The motion accuses the Legislature of
obstructing the democratic process when lawmakers refused to vote on the
proposed amendment earlier this month.
On November 10 the Legislature, meeting in a
special joint session called a Constitutional Convention, to consider the
proposed amendment recessed until January 2, without taking a vote. (story)
January 2 is the final day in the current session
and it is expected no vote will be held, effectively killing the measure.
The move infuriated Romney and other social
conservatives.
Because the Convention is in recess until January
and not technically not over, most legal experts in the state believe the
judiciary will not intervene.
The governor's motion says the court has the
power to act and asks that Secretary of State William Galvin be direct to place
the amendment on the 2008 ballot if lawmakers fail to take action when they
return on Jan. 2.
Earlier this week Romney sent a letter to members
of both the House and Senate accusing them of violating their oaths of office.
The court has not indicated when it might
rule. Since the motion was put before a single justice, whatever the
decision it is likely to be appealed to the full court.
The proposed amendment was the result of a
signature gathering campaign mounted by conservative groups. More than the
required number of names were collected, sending the issue to the Constitutional
Convention where it needs only the support of only 50 lawmakers - 25 percent of
the House and Senate - in two constitutional conventions for it to be put to
voters in 2008.
If the convention fails to vote on January 2
supporters of the amendment would have to begin collecting signatures all over
again in an attempt to place it before voters in 2010.
Even if the measure were to pass on January 2 it
would need a second round of approval in the new session of Legislature -
something considered even more unlikely.
The Convention refused to vote on a citizens'
initiative in 2002, and two years later lawmakers voted down their own proposed
amendment that would have banned gay marriage but legalized civil unions.
Romney has opposed same-sex marriage since the
first court case was filed and forced local clerks to adhere to a law dating
back to the early part of the last century that said marriage licenses could
only be issued to people from out of state if their marriages would be legal
where they lived.
In numerous speeches around the country where the
Republican governor is trying to drum up support for a presidential bid Romney
has attacked same-sex marriage.
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled in
November 2003 that the state could not bar same-sex couples from marrying. Since
then, more than 8,000 gay and lesbian couples in the state have wed.
©365Gay.com 2006
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