Legal shenanigans mar Oregon same-sex marriage decision

Oregon Family Council

Portland, OR, May 19th, 2014: Regardless of your view on same-sex marriage, May 19th, 2014 will be remembered as a tragic day for Oregonians and our cherished system of representative government.

From every appearance, key elected officials in collusion with special interests and a single federal judge have taken the sacred constitutional process of lawmaking and turned it into a coordinated publicity stunt.

The tragedy began when the Attorney General and Governor spurned their sworn duty to uphold the state constitution by refusing to defend a key provision duly passed by some 57% of the electorate. Next, one federal judge, Michael McShane, through an abuse of technical shenanigans literally barred any argument defending the Oregon constitutional definition of marriage from being presented in court.

Today the collusion is fully exposed. Amazingly, at the very moment the judge’s sealed decision is released, every county courthouse already has in place “revised” license forms to accommodate same-sex marriages with same-sex couples eagerly waiting in line, prepared statements in hand.

We applaud the efforts of the National Organization for Marriage who on behalf of their Oregon members are in the process of filing emergency appeals with higher courts. They are requesting the right to present a legitimate defense of Oregon’s constitutional definition of marriage. Perhaps due process will yet prevail.