ADF files in defense of Wis. marriage laws
ALLIANCE DEFENSE FUND NEWS RELEASE
March 25, 2008 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT ADF MEDIA RELATIONS: (480) 444-0020 or www.telladf.org/pressroom
ADF attorneys file brief
in defense of Wis. marriage laws
MADISON, Wis. — Alliance Defense Fund attorneys filed a friend-of-the-court brief Wednesday defending Wisconsin’s marriage laws. ADF is helping to defend against a lawsuit filed last year by a man seeking to end enforcement of the state’s marriage amendment.
“The government should promote and encourage strong families. The people of Wisconsin approved the state marriage amendment for that reason, but political special interests are attacking marriage to further their agenda,” said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Austin R. Nimocks. “An individual who suffered no personal harm from the marriage amendment should not trump the rights of the nearly 60 percent of Wisconsin citizens who voted it into law.”
On Nov. 7, 2006, 59 percent of Wisconsin voters voted in support of the marriage amendment. On July 31, Wisconsin resident Bill McConkey filed a lawsuit against Gov. Jim Doyle and Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen, challenging the constitutionality of the amendment and requesting that the court issue an injunction to prevent its enforcement.
On Nov. 7, 2007, attorneys from ADF filed a friend-of-the-court on behalf of the Wisconsin Family Council which asserted that McConkey lacked standing to bring suit in the case (www.telladf.org/news/story.aspx?cid=4300). On Nov. 28, Dane County Circuit Court Judge Richard Niess ruled in favor of McConkey, therefore allowing the case to proceed to trial.
“If marriage means everything and anything, then marriage means nothing,” said ADF Litigation Counsel Jim Campbell. “Strong families are the foundation for strong communities. For that reason, Wisconsin’s marriage laws must be protected.”
A copy of the latest friend-of-the-court brief filed March 19 in the Dane County Circuit Court in McConkey v. Doyle is available at www.telladf.org/UserDocs/DoyleAmicusBrief.pdf.
ADF is a legal alliance defending the right to hear and speak the Truth through strategy, training, funding, and litigation.