Idaho Gov. requests review of gay marriage ruling

Boise, Idaho (AP) — Gov. C. L. "Butch" Otter is asking the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals for an 11-judge panel to review the three-judge ruling that overturned Idaho's gay marriage ban last week.

Otter announced he was planning on filing a petition Tuesday evening arguing that the federal judges failed to use the correct legal standard to Idaho's Constitutional definition of marriage.

Otter's announcement comes nearly one week after same-sex marriage became legal for the first time in Idaho. While Otter chose not to appeal the 9th Circuit Court's ruling that ordered the state to allow gay couples to wed, he did promise that he would fight to maintain Idaho's 2006 constitutional amendment defining marriage as between one man and one woman.

Otter, who is running for re-election for his third term as governor, said Tuesday that already one Idaho business has been harmed by the judges' ruling.

A northern Idaho city contends its 2013 anti-discrimination ordinance compelled a wedding chapel to conduct same-sex marriages. A Christian religious rights group filed a lawsuit Friday against the city of Coeur d'Alene on behalf of the for-profit Hitching Post.

"One of the key arguments against the Idaho Constitution's defense of traditional marriage has been that redefining it to include same-sex couples would not harm anyone. But the Hitching Post example shows the fallacy of that position," Otter said.

Otter says he is continuing monitoring same-sex marriage cases in other jurisdictions and the potential for them to be reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court.

"I have repeatedly pointed out to the courts that unaccountable judges imposing their perception of social change on the law - rather than public policy being changed through the democratic process - undoubtedly will lead to increased religious strife and restrictions on private property," Otter said in a prepared statement.

Idaho's Attorney General Lawerence Wasden is not joining Otter in the petition, said spokesman Todd Dvorak. However, Wasden's office is planning on asking the Supreme Court at the "appropriate time" to review the lower court's documents and decision — known as a writ of certiorari — regarding Idaho's same-sex marriage case, Dvorak said.

Deborah Ferguson, the attorney who represented the four lesbian couples who filed the lawsuit nearly a year ago challenging the state's marriage ban, said the petition does not require a response from her office.

by Kimberlee Kruesi, Associated Press

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The Gayly – October 22, 2014 @ 11:45am