Michigan officials on Monday asked the
Supreme Court to take a case challenging the state's ban on gay
marriage.
Plaintiff couple Jayne Rowse and April
DeBoer challenged the state's 2004 voter-approved constitutional
amendment limiting marriage to heterosexual couples. The women are
raising three adopted children they were forced to adopt individually
because state law only allows married couples to adopt jointly and
prohibits same-sex couples from marrying.
U.S. District Judge Bernard A. Friedman
sided with the couple in March and struck down the ban as
unconstitutional. But a split 3-judge panel of the Sixth Circuit
Court of Appeals in Cincinnati reversed the ruling, upholding
Michigan's ban and similar bans in Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee.
Plaintiffs in the case appealed to the
Supreme Court.
In its 32-page brief, the state argues
that the U.S. Constitution leaves the issue for voters to decide.
“Michigan fully recognizes that the
state democratic process must yield if the majority adopts a policy
that conflicts with the U.S. Constitution. But this is not such a
case. The Constitution does not define marriage; rather it leaves
that task to voters at the state level.”
“This case comes down to two words:
Who decides,” lawyers
added in defending the ban. “The history of our democracy
demonstrates the wisdom of allowing the people to decide important
issues at the ballot box, rather than ceding those decisions to
unelected judges.”