Below is the text of Family Council’s official press release on yesterday’s Proposition 8 ruling in California.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, August 5, 2010
CONTACT: Martha Adcock, 501-375-7000
FAMILY COUNCIL CALLS PROPOSITION 8 RULING A THREAT TO LIBERTY
On Thursday, Family Council Attorney Martha Adcock weighed in on the federal judge’s decision in Perry v. Schwarzenegger that overturned California’s Proposition 8, saying, “This is a dangerous step. California’s voters passed an amendment to their state constitution, commonly known as Proposition 8, which defined marriage as a union between a man and a woman. Now a federal court is essentially telling them that their votes don’t matter and they don’t have the authority to make policy decisions through the democratic process.”
Adcock went on to say, “Any time the will of the People is so blatantly disregarded by the federal government, our liberty is threatened. Government derives its power from the People, and I believe the People have spoken very clearly on this issue: California voters said that ‘only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California’ and the federal courts should respect their right to make policy. What the citizens of California approved is not radical, but merely puts into their constitution the definition of marriage as it has existed for hundreds of years.”
Adcock, who served as legal counsel for the Arkansas Marriage Amendment Committee in 2004, spoke of Arkansas’ own marriage amendment, saying, “Over 200,000 Arkansans signed petitions in 2004 to put the Arkansas Marriage Amendment on the ballot. Over 750,000 Arkansans voted to approve the definition of marriage in Arkansas as the union of one man and one woman. We plan on following the appeals in the Perry case and will take whatever steps are necessary to ensure that the will of Arkansas’ voters is upheld and our Constitution is protected.”
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