Congress files same-sex marriage briefs with Supreme Court
The Supreme Court is set to heard oral arguments on same-sex marriage — and Congress has something to say first.
More than 250 members of Congress have made their views on the same-sex marriages cases public leading up to Tuesday's oral arguments.
Fifty-seven Republican lawmakers, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, and five other senators, filed a friend-of-the-court brief arguing that marriage in states should be as the union of one man and one woman — thus defined throughout the nation as traditional.
"This court favors incremental change over sweeping and dramatic change in addressing novel constitutional claims. The relative novelty of same-sex marriage weighs against the mandatory redefinition of marriage," the brief said.
Meanwhile, 167 House members and 44 senators, including Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., filed a brief in favor of the court ruling to allow same-sex marriages throughout the country.
State marriage bans "impose countless burdens and indignities on an identifiable and disfavored class — gay and lesbian couples and their children," inflicting "immeasurable psychological harm" and serving "no legitimate governmental objective," the brief said.
Another brief argued that marriage rights for same-sex couples advances "conservative values" and was signed by a number of Republicans including Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, Sen. Mark Kirk of Illinois and Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida.
Marriage bans are inconsistent with the "properly limited role of government," the brief said.
The Supreme Court is set to hear appeals challenging bans of same-sex marriage from Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee. A historical single decision covering all four states — and thus extending over the entire nation — will likely be reached in late June.
(h/t NY Times)
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