Oregon Supreme Court issues opinions on pro-family ballot titles
On June 27th, six days before the July 3rd final deadline for the submission of signatures, the Oregon Supreme Court issued an opinion in Frazzini v. Meyers, No. SC S055927 on the ballot title of Petition Initiative 144 (repeals domestic partnerships). The court also issued an opinion on the same day in Frazzini v. Meyers, No. SC S055933 on Petition Initiative 145 (removes sexual orientation from discrimination laws). In both cases, the court ordered the Attorney General to modify the ballot titles.
As reported earlier, the effort to promote these initiatives had already been abandoned for lack of time. See, “Court’s refusal to rule kills same-sex petition plan: Oregon voters wanted to make decision on new privileges for homosexuals” and “Opponents of Oregon gay rights law abandon repeal effort”.
In the wake of the June 27th rulings, Restore America issued a press release titled: Oregon Supreme Court Joins Other State Officials in Thwarting the Rights of the People. It reports:
Our challenge now is public officials who are determined to carry out the agenda of a special interest group no matter what the citizens have said in the past or wish to say now . . . They were however, kind enough to leave Concerned Oregonians 6 days to print, distribute, and collect 100,000 petition signatures, by July 3rd, the State’s deadline. How thoughtful of them.
On June 20th, the ADF Alliance Alert posted a report and summary on Intitiatives 144 and 145 along with Referendum 303 (repeals domestic partnerships) which is still being litigated by ADF at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. If the Ninth Circuit litigation is successful, Referendum 303 could still appear on the ballot.
Basic Rights Oregon has this blog post discussing the rulings and the status of the battle over domestic partnerships in Oregon.