Thursday, 4:30 PM
SJC certifies ballot issue on gay marriage ban
By Jonathan Saltzman, Globe Staff
The state's high court unanimously ruled this morning that Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly properly certified a proposed ballot question to ban same-sex marriage.
Gay-marriage backers sued Reilly, arguing that he had flouted a provision in the state constitution that blocks citizen-generated questions seeking the reversal of a judicial question. Gay-marriage supporters are trying to protect the 2003 Supreme Judicial Court decision that made Massachusetts the first state to allow same-sex weddings.
Today's decision now puts the issue squarely before the Legislature, which plans to vote this week on the constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage, which would go to voters in 2008. To reach the ballot, the amendment needs the support of at least 50 legislators at the Constitutional Convention scheduled for Wednesday, and then at least 50 votes at a similar convention during the 2007-08 legislative session.
