State to Appeal Same Sex Marriage Ruling

Press Release

Governor Sean Parnell announced today that the State will appeal the U.S. District Court's ruling invalidating Alaska's constitutional definition of marriage.

"As Alaska's governor, I have a duty to defend and uphold the law and the Alaska Constitution," said Governor Parnell. "Although the district court today may have been bound by the recent Ninth Circuit panel opinion, the status of that opinion and the law in general in this area is in flux. I will defend our constitution."

The State of Alaska argued in its brief before the district court that the definition of marriage should be left to the democratic process of the states. It was through this democratic process that a majority of Alaskans voted for the constitutional amendment, which has since been challenged.

As stated in the brief to the district court, "The question of whether to define marriage to include the right to marry someone of the same sex is an important question of public policy. But it is a decision for the citizenry to make through the democratic process, not the judiciary."

Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to review several cases on similar constitutional bans in other states. A three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit ruled the next day that constitutional amendments in Nevada and Idaho must be overturned. On Wednesday, Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy stayed the Ninth Circuit panel's ruling at the request of Idaho, putting a halt to implementation of the decision, and that order was subsequently overturned by the Supreme Court on Friday. Whether Idaho will request and receive review by the full panel of the Ninth Circuit is uncertain. There are also other circuit courts that have not ruled yet, which will likely result in additional requests for U.S. Supreme Court review once those cases are complete.

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