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This week, the State of Ohio defended its constitutional definition of marriage as between one man and one woman.  Attorney General Mike DeWine made the appeal to the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in defense of Ohio's ban on homosexual marriage.  Below is the Plain Dealer article detailing the state's position.  

-OCA received word this week from a ministers' association in West Union, Ohio (Adams County) that a lesbian couple had rented the local fairgrounds to perform a same-sex ceremony.  Local county officials are discussing their options to respond to this misuse of the county fairgrounds.  

DeWine asks federal appeals court to overturn ruling in favor of gay-marriage couples in Ohio

By James F. McCarty, The Plain Dealer
on July 16, 2014 at 11:33 AM, updated July 16, 2014 at 12:50 PM

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine this week asked a federal appeals court to overturn a ruling from April that ordered the state to recognize gay marriages obtained legally in other states.

AP file Photo CINCINNATI, Ohio - Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine launched another foray in defense of the state's ban on same-sex marriage, asking a federal appeals court to overturn a previous ruling in favor of four gay couples who successfully challenged the ban.

DeWine filed a 41-page reply brief in the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, asking the judges to follow legal precedent and comply with Ohioans who in 2004 voted to deny gay married couples the same rights as heterosexual couples.

"Courts should not presume that voters are not capable of deciding an issue of this sensitivity on decent and rational grounds," the state's brief stated.

U.S. District Judge Timothy Black Last week, four same-sex couples asked the appeals court to endorse a ruling in April by U.S. District Judge Timothy Black that found Ohio's refusal to recognize same-sex marriages obtained in other states where they are legal was unconstitutional.

The state appealed the case, and asked the court to overturn a ruling that DeWine says ignores precedent-setting cases and federal statutes to the contrary decided by Ohio courts, Congress and the U.S. Supreme Court.

DeWine maintains that it is Ohio's sole province to define marriage as between a man and a woman.

"The plaintiffs cannot create a specific right to same-sex marriage merely by alleging that they seek to participate in the general right to marry," DeWine says in his brief to the Appeals Court.

The four same-sex couples "share an expansive view of the judiciary's role to reshape society," the state's brief continues, "and an equally expansive view of the court's prerogatives to do so in the face of contrary Supreme Court precedent."

The Appeals Court has scheduled oral arguments in the case for Aug. 6. The case is one of more than 55 marriage-equality lawsuits working their way through the judicial system across the country. The appeals judges in Cincinnati have consolidated several cases from other states into one, which will be heard on that date.

To date, 19 states and the District of Columbia have legalized same-sex marriage.

 

  Ohio Christian Alliance is a non-partisan organization dedicated to promoting Judeo-Christian values in American government. Ohio Christian Alliance does not endorse any particular candidate or political party. OCA provides educational materials, including voter guides and scorecards.s.s.

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