A same-sex couple from Santa Fe has asked the New Mexico Supreme Court to streamline the handling of lawsuits seeking to legalize gay marriage in the state.
Rep.
Brian Egolf, a Santa Fe Democrat and lawyer for the couple, said
Tuesday the goal is to get a quick lower court decision and clear the
way for an expedited ruling by the state’s highest court.
The
justices are being asked to consolidate all cases involving the gay
marriage issue and assign them to a district court judge in Santa Fe,
who would issue a ruling that would go directly to the Supreme Court for
review.
The Supreme Court took a similar approach in 2011 by
consolidating several competing lawsuits over the drawing of new
district boundaries for legislative, congressional and other elected
offices. The court assigned the redistricting challenges to a retired
judge in Santa Fe. That avoided the possibility of conflicting rulings
in different lower courts.
Two cases involving gay
marriage are pending in lower courts – one in Santa Fe brought by two
men who were denied a marriage license, and a lawsuit in Albuquerque
brought on behalf of several same-sex couples by the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico and the National Center for Lesbian Rights.
The
lawsuits ask district judges to order county clerks to issue marriage
licenses to same-sex couples. The lawsuits contend that denying marriage
licenses to same-sex couples violates the New Mexico Constitution,
including provisions that guarantee due process and equal protection
under the law.
The Supreme Court said last week it wouldn’t
immediately decide whether gay marriage is legal in the state and
instead would allow lower courts to first consider the issue. The
justices had been asked to rule on the legal question rather than wait
for an appeal of a lower court decision.
Egolf said consolidating
gay marriage cases would ensure the Supreme Court considers the legal
issue even if county officials decided not to appeal any ruling by a
lower court.
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