June 30, 2010

Wisconsin constitution constitutional

Article XIII, Section 13: Only a marriage between one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in this state. A legal status identical or substantially similar to that of marriage for unmarried individuals shall not be valid or recognized in this state.
We hold that Article XIII, Section 13 of the Wisconsin Constitution — the marriage amendment — was adopted in conformity with the separate amendment rule in Article XII, Section 1 of the Wisconsin Constitution, which mandates that voters must be able to vote separately on separate amendments. Both sentences of the marriage amendment relate to marriage and tend to effect or carry out the same general purpose of preserving the legal status of marriage in Wisconsin as between only one man and one woman.
Unanimous.

As for this ruling's potential application to questions arising from the State of Wisconsin's domestic partnership provision:
We need not decide what legal statuses identical or substantially similar to marriage are prohibited by this clause in order to understand its plain and general purpose.
It would appear that there isn't one.

3 comments:

Pete Gruett said...

Gableman wrote the decision that the two sentences, taken together, are consistent and relate to the same subject?

At least the court has a sense of humor.

illusory tenant said...

Ha. Well spotted.

Display Name said...

A day later and I'm still chuckling at Pete's retort.