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SALT LAKE CITY — Utah made its last plea Wednesday for the U.S. Supreme Court to hear its same-sex marriage case, arguing it's the best vehicle to resolve the issue nationwide and that the appellate court ruling is wrong.
The Utah Attorney General's Office says in the brief that the case offers the opportunity to review a state constitution and laws that define marriage as between a man and a woman, and recognize only those marriages from couples in other states. Also, it says Utah's Amendment 3 is similar to laws in other states.
State lawyers say lower and appellate courts have found Utah's laws were not based on animus, allowing the high court to focus on the pure legal question. Utah asked the court to decide whether the 14th Amendment prohibits states from defining marriage as only the legal union between a man and a woman.
"Resolution of this issue will mark the end of marriage litigation," according to the state.
The Supreme Court now has fully briefed same-sex marriage petitions from Utah, Oklahoma, Virginia, Indiana and Wisconsin. The justices will gather Sept. 29 to start considering cases for the term starting in October.
Utah contends the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals made a mistake in ruling the issue is about the freedom of choice to marry.
"If a person's choice is the only marriage limit, then virtually every line that the people have drawn around marriage must fall," according to the state.
Resolution of this issue will mark the end of marriage litigation.
–State court filing
That "right" would override marriage laws based on age, family relationships and number of participants.
"The right would also necessarily include nonexclusive marriages, as well as those of only limited duration, such as a five-year marriage with a renewal option," the state says.
Utah says it has "numerous compelling reasons" for retaining the definition of marriage that has existed since statehood. The state says it will explain in detail that redefining marriage without regard to "sexual complementariness" changes the institution of marriage to the detriment of society and children.
The laws reflect a reasonable belief that children are best reared by their married biological parents, and where that's not possible, a married mom and dad, according to the state.
"Utah’s brief to the Supreme Court gets at least one point exactly right: The freedom to marry is a matter of 'immense national importance' and deserves to be heard as quickly as possible by America’s highest court," Freedom to Marry President Evan Wolfson said in a statement.
Wolfson said tens of thousands of families in Utah and throughout the country are being harmed by "indefensible marriage discrimination," and it’s time for the Supreme Court to reach a national resolution by taking one or more of the pending cases.
Derek Kitchen and Moudi Sbeity, Laurie Wood and Kody Partridge, and Karen Archer and Kate Call challenged Utah's ban on same-sex marriage in federal court. Archer and Call married in Iowa and claim Utah law bars them from being treated the same as heterosexual couples because the state does not recognize their marriage.
U.S. District Judge Robert J. Shelby ruled last December that the ban violates equal protection guarantees in the 14th Amendment. The 10 Circuit Court affirmed the ruling in June.
The plaintiffs' attorney, Peggy Tomsic, said the time has come for the Supreme Court to decide the issue.
"The state of Utah and the plaintiff couples agree that it is important the Supreme Court take this case and settle the constitutional questions at stake, questions that matter so much to the families we represent and to so many others across the country," Tomsic said in a statement.
Last week, proponents and opponents of same-sex marriage, including The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, filed friend-of-the-court briefs urging the court to take Utah's case.
