Same-sex marriage hearing expedited
Judge rules SJC should take on suit
Governor Mitt Romney will get another chance to rally against gay marriage before he leaves office in January after a single justice ruled yesterday that the full state Supreme Judicial Court should rush to hear his lawsuit seeking to override the Legislature and put a constitutional amendment on the ballot that would ban same-sex marriages .
The decision by Associate Justice Judith A. Cowin to have the seven-member court hear the case came hours after a 20-minute hearing in which she peppered lawyers with questions about whether the case should be expedited before the court. Oral arguments have been set for Dec. 20, two weeks before Romney leaves the State House on his way to what many presume is a run for the White House in 2008.
Romney spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom heralded the decision as "a positive step." Romney was one of 11 plaintiffs in the case.
"Governor Romney believes that it is the court's responsibility to protect the right of the people to petition for a constitutional amendment and have it placed on the ballot for a vote," Fehrnstrom said. "The fact that the full court has agreed to hear the matter on an expedited basis indicates that they recognize the important issues involved."
Legal specialists and gay rights activists downplayed Cowin's decision to pass the case to the full court, saying that any ruling by a single justice probably would make it before the seven-member panel on appeal. Cowin voted with the 4-3 majority in the 2003 landmark SJC decision that ruled that gays and lesbians have the right to marry under the constitution. The proposed amendment would nullify that right, but preserve existing same-sex marriages.
Romney and the other plaintiffs charged that legislators subverted the state constitution on Nov. 9 when they met in joint session and took no action on a voter-initiative petition to ban gay marriage.
Backers of a constitutional amendment had collected 170,000 signatures to get the measure on the ballot in 2008.
To qualify for a statewide referendum, however, a measure needs the support of at least 50 legislators in two consecutive sessions. Instead of acting on the measure, the Legislature moved to recess the joint session until Jan. 2 before taking a vote.
