With both the California Supreme Court and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger refusing to abide by constitutional separation of powers and the California statutes recognizing only man-woman marriages, a leading California pro-family organization has contacted county clerks to urge them to be the last and best defense for man-woman marriage licenses.
On May 27, Campaign for Children and Families (CCF) faxed letters and documentation to 38 of 58 county clerks, where the man-woman marriage ethic is its strongest in California. Already several clerks have responded, telling CCF they intend NOT to issue any same-sex “marriage” licenses.
CCF’s letter and legal documentation reached clerks on Wednesday, the same day that the Schwarzenegger administration sent clerks altered marriage license application forms, replacing the statutory “bride”/“groom” requirement with unlawful “Party A” and “Party B” designations.
“We’re encouraging the clerks to abide by the express will of the written California Constitution and the man-woman marriage statutes, and to respect the democratic process which will be decided at the ballot box in November, by not issuing marriage licenses to anyone but a man and woman,” said CCF President Randy Thomasson. “The judges and the Governor are violating the Constitution and the statutes, but county clerks know they have a duty follow the statutes, which haven’t been changed yet. Clerks don’t have to issue homosexual ‘marriage’ licenses, and they shouldn’t.”
Gary Kreep, executive director of the San Diego-based United States Justice Foundation, is offering pro bono legal counsel to clerks who resist the Supreme Court’s unconstitutional ruling:
“We’re asking that you please decline to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples unless and until the Legislature changes the marriage statutes, the People change the Constitution, and/or all legal options have been exhausted,” Kreep wrote the clerks. “By doing so, you will follow California law, respect the democratic process, and avoid being drawn into what dissenting California Supreme Court Justice Marvin Baxter called the ‘majority’s foreclosure of this ordinary democratic process.’”
Source: Campaign for Children and Families, May 29, 2008.
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