In our federal system states should be able to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman
Texas Insider Report: WASHINGTON D.C. U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) on Friday joined an amicus brief on behalf of 57 members of Congress in support of the right of states to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman. The brief was filed in four cases that the Supreme Court will jointly hear on April 28 2015 in which same-sex couples challenge the marriage laws of Ohio Tennessee Michigan and Kentucky all of which were upheld by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. The Supreme Court will decide whether the Fourteenth Amendment requires states to license marriages between two people of the same sex and to recognize same-sex marriages licensed and performed in another state.
The brief states: As Members of Congress
amici have a compelling interest in defending the principles of federalism and the separation of powers implicated in these cases. Federalism and the separation of powers provide critical structural guarantees of the liberty of all American citizens including
amicis constituents.
Amici thus have an interest in defending the division of authority between the federal government and the States and in preserving the separation of powers between this Court and the political branches.
Amici believe that a judgment of this Court imposing a judicially mandated revision of state laws defining marriage would circumvent the proper resolution of these profound and divisive issues through state democratic processes. Such a decision could damage the rights of a self-governing people. It would set an unwarranted precedent with effects far beyond this case of federal encroachment into a traditional area of state concern and of judicial pre-emption of an area that the Constitution allots to democratic process."
Sens. Steve Daines (R-MT) James Inhofe (R-OK) James Lankford (R-OK) Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Tim Scott (R-SC) joined Cruz in the brief along with 51 members of the U.S. House of Representatives. The cases are
Obergefell v. Hodges No. 14-556;
Tanco v. Haslam No. 14-562;
DeBoer v. Snyder No 14-571; and
Bourke v. Beshear No. 14-574.
A copy of the brief is available here.
