Marriage amendment stalled for court decision

Maryland (Map, News) - The fate of a proposed constitutional amendment to define marriage will likely rest with the Maryland Court of Appeals despite the long lists of supporters and opponents who turned out Thursday to testify on the measure.

“We ought to wait to hear what the court says and then go from there,” said Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee Chairman Brian Frosh, D-Montgomery, whose committee will consider the amendment. “Let’s see what the court says the Maryland law is.”

The court has not said when it will rule on a December appeal of a Baltimore City Circuit Court case that struck down the state’s 1973 law defining marriage as being between a man and a woman.

“The court heard the case in December,” said Sen. Larry Haines, R-Carroll, the amendment’s sponsor. “They could drag their feet for months. That’s the whole purpose of the bill — I think the voters should decide.”

Haines said he was confident he had the votes to support the amendment, but said “the issue is whether the leadership will allow a vote on the bill.” Witnesses waited for more than five hours Thursday to testify on the amendment at a hearing where testimony on a bill, sponsored by Sen. James Brochin, D-Baltimore County, to open a one-year window to allow child sexual abuse victims to file civil suits eclipsed the issue of valid marriages.

In written testimony, Bernice Melov, 87, of Takoma Park, shared her experience of living with her son and witnessing his committed relationship with his partner.

“Let religious communities determine whether to accept or reject same sex marriage as a religious blessing or sacrament within churches, synagogues, temples, shrines or mosques,” Melov said. “Do not, however, sully the constitution of Maryland by putting up for a vote the right to equal justice under the law.”

Equality Maryland Executive Director Dan Furmansky told lawmakers about 17 other states that have rejected similar amendments.

“They gave thoughtful consideration, deliberation and pause to passing an amendment that would relegate an entire group of individuals to second class citizenship,” Furmansky said in written testimony.

Opponents argued that voters should have the final say, not the courts.

“If vital questions like the validity of marriage, affecting the whole people is to be irrevocably and solely decided by the courts then the people cease to be their own rulers,” Anne Arundel County Circuit Court Clerk Bob Duckworth said.

stracy@baltimoreexaminer.com

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