Amicus says lower court ruling "limits the right of the people to self-governance and harms American democracy"

Contact: Jill Farrell, Judicial Watch, 202-646-5188 

WASHINGTON, Oct. 2, 2014 /Standard Newswire/ -- Judicial Watch announced today that on September 4, 2014, it filed an amicus curiae brief with the United States Supreme Court in support of Utah's constitutional Amendment 3, defining marriage as consisting "only of the legal union between a man and a woman."

Amendment 3 passed by an overwhelming 65.8% to 33.2% on November 2, 2004, garnering 593,297 out of some 900,000 votes cast. On June 25, 2014, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit ruled in Kitchen v Herbert that under the 14th Amendment, access to marriage cannot be denied to gay and lesbian couples. The Tenth Circuit stayed of its ruling pending an appeal by the state of Utah to the U.S. Supreme Court. On August 5, 2014, Utah appealed the case to the Supreme Court, which is now considering whether to accept the state's Petition for a Writ of Certiorari.

In its amicus brief, Judicial Watch argues that "the decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit raises important issues of constitutional law which should be heard by this Court," adding:

In particular, this amicus is concerned that the Tenth Circuit's ruling imposes unconstitutional limits on the right of the people to self-governance and harms American democracy. Among the harms are: a dangerous distortion of constitutional jurisprudence; an unlawful expansion of the powers of the federal judiciary; and an anti-democratic limitation on the people's right to democratic self-governance through popular initiative and referendum.

Specifically, Judicial Watch offered the following "Reasons for Granting the Petition" filed by the State of Utah:

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