Supreme Court declines to hear appeal of same-sex marriage law

Published: 2004-11-30

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Opponents of same-sex marriage said they were disappointed but not surprised that the Supreme Court declined Nov. 29 to hear an appeal of the ruling that permitted same-sex marriages in Massachusetts. The court without comment passed on the chance to review the 2003 ruling by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court that legalized same-sex marriage in that state. The challenge to the law came from the Liberty Counsel on behalf of Robert Largess, vice president of the Catholic Action League of Massachusetts, and 11 state legislators. C.J. Doyle, the league's executive director, said the court's decision not to take the case "underscores the need for Supreme Court justices committed to a strict construction of the Constitution." In a statement, he said the success of November ballot initiatives in 11 states to ban same-sex marriage shows "that this issue must be removed from the jurisdiction of an unaccountable judiciary and placed squarely in the hands of the people, where it belongs."

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