Supreme Court Refuses To Hear Gay Marriage Case
The Supreme Court sidestepped a dispute over gay marriages, rejecting
a challenge to the nation's only law sanctioning such unions.
Justices had been asked by conservative groups to overturn the
year-old decision by the Massachusetts Supreme Court legalizing
gay marriage. They declined, without comment.
In
the past year, at least 3,000 gay Massachusetts couples have wed,
although voters may have a chance next year to change the state
constitution to permit civil union benefits to same-sex couples,
but not the institution of marriage. Critics of the November 2003
ruling by the highest court in Massachusetts argue that it violated
the U.S. Constitution's guarantee of a republican form of government
in each state. They lost at the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
in Boston. state constitution to wed. The nation's high court
had stayed out of the Massachusetts fight on a previous occasion.
Last May, justices refused to intervene and block clerks from
issuing the first marriage licenses.
The
Holistic Wisdom Corporation