Sponsors of an initiative campaign to
repeal Oregon's ban on gay marriage filed a brief Tuesday calling on
a federal court to spare voters the costly campaign.
In its filing, Oregon United for
Marriage told U.S. District Judge Michael McShane that it would
abandon its campaign if he strikes down the ban by May 23.
“The Court has the power to spare
Oregonians the anxiety, conflict, uncertainty and cost of an election
on marriage equality,” the brief states. “The federal courts
have long been the guardians of civil rights in this country, and
this case is no exception. The Court can grant marriage equality
sooner than Oregonians can achieve it through the Initiative.”
Mike Marshall, campaign manager for
Oregon United for Marriage, said his group would “prefer a quick
resolution of the court case, and, if possible, to avoid an expensive
marriage campaign.”
The campaign claims to have collected
nearly 45,000 more signatures than needed to qualify its initiative
for the November ballot.
Oral arguments in the case are set for
April 23.
(Read
the document.)