Wisconsin Supreme Court upholds marriage protection amendment

Madison, Wis., Jul 3, 2010 / 17:07 pm

A lawsuit challenging a Wisconsin constitutional amendment which protected the definition of marriage failed to persuade the Wisconsin Supreme Court, which unanimously rejected its arguments. Supporters of the amendment said the challenge was “baseless.”

The suit had challenged the amendment on the grounds it violated a Wisconsin requirement that amendments deal with only one issue. In a 7-0 opinion issued Wednesday, the court judged that the two propositions contained in the amendment’s text “plainly relate to the subject of marriage.”

More than 59 percent of Wisconsin voters approved the amendment in November 2006, the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) reports in a June 30 press release. University of Wisconsin professor William McConkey filed suit in July 2007.

The ADF filed an amicus brief in the case. Its litigation counsel Jim Campbell said in a statement that voters adopted the measure “for one clear and simple reason: to protect the institution of marriage.”

“We should be strengthening--not undermining--marriage, which is one man and one woman. Once again, activists tried to use the courts to force something on the people that they have repeatedly and overwhelmingly rejected.”

Wisconsin Family Council president Julaine K. Appling said the claim that the amendment addresses multiple subjects was “just a sneaky attempt to tear down what the voters clearly wanted.”

“The court was right to reject this baseless lawsuit. Judges and politicians should never toss aside the will of the people in order to impose a system that intentionally deprives children of a mom and dad. Which parent doesn’t matter: a mom or a dad?”

In May 2008 a Dane County Circuit judge also ruled in favor of the amendment, agreeing that its sole purpose is “the preservation of the unique and historical status of marriage.”