From BaltimoreGayLife.com

Maryland Right-to-Marry Case Delayed

by Jason Young

July 29, 2005

Earlier this week, just days before oral arguments were to begin in a landmark right-to-marry case, Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge M. Brooke Murdock delayed the arguments by more than a month. The July 27 hearing was moved to August 30.

The lawsuit, Deane v. Conaway, was filed a year ago by the ACLU on behalf of same-sex couples who are suing to marry in Maryland.

"At the trial court level, schedules can be somewhat fluid," said Kenneth Y. Choe, a lawyer for the ACLU's Lesbian & Gay Rights Project. He said his team was ready for arguments on July 27 and characterized the holdup as "not a substantial one."

Murdock's July 18 order, which set the new hearing date, says the delay is in "consideration of the deadline for the filing of motions for leave to participate."

Legal experts told Gay Life the order likely means the judge is giving more time for groups to submit their opinions on how the court should decide the case.

Such a submission is called an amicus curiae brief - Latin for "friend of the court." The term applies to a group that is not a party to the litigation but that believes that the court's decision may affect its interest.

At least two groups are anticipated to write in opposition to marriage equality: the Citizens for Traditional Families and The Alliance Defense Fund, which claims on its Web site that "God has defined marriage as one man married to one woman."

Last year, Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., upon learning of the lawsuit, denounced it as part of the ACLU's "far-left agenda."

"Traditional marriage, in my view and the view of most Marylanders and Americans, is the cornerstone of our society," Ehrlich said. "That used to be common sense."

But a coalition of 48 religious leaders and 25 religious organizations has filed a brief countering Gov. Ehrlich's and the Alliance Defense Fund's statements. Coalition members include Brown Memorial Park Avenue Presbyterian Church, the National Coalition of American Nuns, Unity Fellowship Church of Baltimore, and First Unitarian Church of Baltimore.

The ACLU's Choe said of the coalition: "What they really did is show that the community of faith is not monolithic on this issue. Too often there's an assumption - and incorrect assumption - that people of faith are opposed to what we're fighting for in this case."

Equality Maryland and other civil rights organizations also have told the court to strike down the prohibition against same-sex marriage - a ban they say is unconstitutional.

"We have no doubt that August 30 is the date that oral arguments will finally be heard and that these couples will have their day in court," said Equality Maryland Executive Director Dan Furmanksy. "We believe the merits of this case will lead to a decision in our favor - hopefully sooner rather than later."

Plaintiffs include partners Gitanjali Deane and Lisa Polyak and eight other same-sex couples. A gay man whose partner is deceased is also a plaintiff.

The defendants are Baltimore City Circuit Court Clerk Frank Conway and four county clerks who denied the couples marriage licenses. The ACLU's complaint alleges the clerks denied the couples a license "for the sole fact that they are a same-sex couple."

Murdock was appointed to the bench in 1997 by then-Governor Parris N. Glendening. She was elected to a full term in 1998.

Massachusetts is the only state that permits same-sex couples to marry.