(Updated) Republican Legislators Move To Intervene In Same-Sex Marriage Lawsuit
Assert Legislative Interest, Allege Possibly-Improper Procedure
Note: This post has been updated. Any and all updates appear at the end of the original post.
Claiming that they are impacted in their ability to set public policy and in their role as lawmakers, a group of thirteen State Representatives and two State Senators are asking that they be allowed to intervene in the newly-filed lawsuit against the State of Oregon over the issue of same-sex marriage.
The group consists of Representatives Cliff Zauner, Tom Butler, Betsy Close, Gordon Anderson, Linda Flores, Bill Garrard, Wayne Krieger, Tim Knopp, Jeff Kruse, Randy Miller, Tootie Smith, Phil Yount, and Mary Gallegos; and Senators Charles Starr and Gary George. All fifteen are Republicans.
In their motion to intervene, the group -- represented by attorney Dennis Richardson of Richardson & Associations (also a State Representative) -- argues that "it is the province of the legislature to decide if and when to change that policy" and that since they have "enacted numerous laws to protect and regulate the institution of marriage, Legislators have a profound interest in protecting that institution."
Their motion also takes aim at the case management agreement entered into by the parties involved in the lawsuit filed yesterday by the ACLU of Oregon, into which the Defense of Marriage Coalition and Multnomah County will be allowed as intervenors.
"By agreement among the Attorney General, the American Civil Liberties Union, Basic Rights Oregon, and others," the legislators' motion reads, "the parties appear to have acted in collusion to exempt this case from the rules and requirements governing civil procedure."
In addition, the motion expresses concern that "due to the Attorney General�s intimate involvement in brokering the agreement, together with his published opinion on the issue of the constitutionality of same-sex marriage, the Attorney General may not adequately represent the interests of Legislators and of thousands of other citizens of the State of Oregon by zealously defending the institution of marriage."
As of this writing, we are not certain whether or not this motion yet has been acted upon by the court.
Update
This evening's Associated Press story on this has some reaction from Hardy Myers:
Attorney General Hardy Myers said he opposes the legislators' motion because they wouldn't agree to a schedule that has been approved by the other parties in an effort to expedite the case.
"The institution of marriage will be vigorously defended in this case, even without the legislators' participation," Myers said in a response prepared for filing with the court.
Instead of intervening, Myers said, the lawmakers could submit their views by filing a friend-of-the-court brief.
AP also reports that the motion is scheduled to be heard by Judge Bearden tomorrow. It also points out what we thought was the case but neglected to double-check: The motion is on behalf of only fourteen legislators, since Jeff Kruse left his place in the Legislature and is running for the State Senate.
March 25, 2004 at 04:53 PM
Almost had this up before KGW posted a story on it, heh. I got it about 15 minutes after the timestamp on their item, and didn't get it posted for another half an hour or so.
March 26, 2004 at 10:05 AM
Thanks for all the updates! This really is the best source for same-sex marriage news in Oregon.
More on the Air America rumor: Clear Channel, owner of AM 620 KPOJ, will be issuing a press release later today announcing the format change. Starting Wednesday, this will be the lineup:
6–9am: Morning Sedition
9am–Noon: The O’Franken Factor with Al Franken
Noon–3pm: Ed Schultz
3–7pm: Randi Rhodes
7–8pm What Else is News with Marty Kaplan
8–11pm: The Majority Report with Janeane Garofalo
I'm not sure if the press release will be posted online, but I'll try to find it.
By the way, Ed Schultz is not with Air America, but is the #1 talk host in North Dakota, beating Rush Limbaugh, and Randi Rhodes is with Air America and is the #1 talk host in West Palm Beach, Florida, beating Rush.