March 10, 2004

(Updated) No Opinion From Attorney General Until Next Week?

Reports Conflict On Issuance Of Next Major Analysis

Note: This post has been updated. Any and all updates appear at the end of the original post.

Media reports have been indicating we should expect the opinion of Attorney General Hardy Myers on the same-sex marriage question this week, most recently focusing on today or tomorrow as the likely day of release.

But earlier this evening towards the end of a town hall meeting she held along with Representative Diane Rosenbaum (D-Portland), Senator Kate Brown (D-Portland) stated that it was looking like "early next week ... maybe Monday or Tuesday."

We didn't have the chance to ask if she had some sort of new information, or if the media reports were wrong, but we did ask about her own expecations.

"I find it highly unlikely," she said, "that the Attorney General would come to a different conclusion."

While it's no guarantee she's right, of course, the growing shared sense of things does seem to be moving towards the expectation that we're on our way towards another concurring legal opinion.

March 10, 2004

Update

Well, here we go. There's an OPB News story on this:

Multnomah County will continue issuing marriage licenses to same sex couples for at least the rest of the week. Attorney General Hardy Myers has put off issuing an opinion on the subject until next week.

According to the report, "state agencies, including tax collectors and welfare managers, want to know whether newly married same-sex couples are indeed married in the eyes of the state." Governor Kulongoski, OPB says, wants to discuss the opinion with Myers before it's released to the public.

March 11, 2004

Update

Paul of WWP gets to this as well:

Turns out the governor wants to confer with Myers before the opinion is released, a smoke signal that is difficult to decipher.

In other words the Governor -- who roundly criticized Multnomah County's original secrecy -- wants the Attorney General's report to remain secret until he gets to see it first, so that he can formulate a strategy before the public finds out what it says.

This situation has just been chock full of hypocrites.

Posted at 11:36 PM | PermalinkComments (1) | TrackBacks (0)
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Comments (1)

  1. Jack Bog on 11 Mar 2004

    Chances of the OAG invalidating the MultCo 4's action: 1 in 200.

    Chances of the OAG rocking the boat on any political issue: 1 in 100.