Louisiana Supreme Court to consider state gay marriage ban News
Louisiana Supreme Court to consider state gay marriage ban

[JURIST] The Louisiana Supreme Court Wednesday will consider the constitutionality of the state's Defense of Marriage amendment [PDF] banning gay marriage. The amendment, overwhelmingly passed by voters in September, was struck down in early October by State District Judge William Morvant, who found the amendment's structure violated a state constitutional requirement that any amendment deal with only one issue. Judge Morvant ruled the amendment banned same-sex marriages and also prevented the state from recognizing any legal status for common-law relationships, domestic partnerships or civil unions between both gay and heterosexual couples (see this previous report on JURIST's Paper Chase). Supporters of the amendment counter that these matters are merely a subset of the main issue, that of defining marriage as only a union between a man and woman. AP has more.