Tweet

Share on Thumblr

RALEIGH — A committee of organizations working toward the preservation of North Carolina marriage laws has asked its attorney general to defend the current statutes defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman. 

The Vote for Marriage NC Referendum Committee sent a letter to Attorney General Roy Cooper on Dec. 29 asking him to "vigorously defend the marriage laws of our State against the unprecedented and unwarranted attack presented by the lawsuit that was filed on Dec. 8, 2011 in the Superior Court of Guilford County."

The lawsuit, "Jeff L. Thigpen, individually and as Register of Deeds of Guilford County, et al. vs. Roy L. Cooper, Attorney General of State of North Carolina, 11 CVS 12041, Superior Court of Guilford County, NC," challenges the Constitutionality of North Carolina's marriage statutes.

The goal of the lawsuit is to either legalize same-sex marriage or to abolish the requirement for the licensing of marriage in North Carolina.

The laws of North Carolina have been settled since statehood that marriage constitutes the legal union of one man and one woman, Vote for Marriage NC asserts.

"As Attorney General, it is your duty to defend the marriage laws of the State of North Carolina that were duly passed by the representatives of the people, the General Assembly," the letter reads. "The Courts of our State have no authority to create a new definition for marriage; that belongs exclusively to the people of the State."

The Marriage Protection Amendment, which will allow citizens to affirm the current definition of marriage of marriage set forth in NC Gen. Stat. § 51-1, will be up for vote during the first primary election.

Citizens can place that definition in the N.C. state Constitution with their vote May 8, 2012.

"The lawsuit filed in Guilford County is an attempt to pre-empt and disrupt the expression of the will of the people of North Carolina through their vote on the Marriage Protection Amendment next May," the letter states.

"Further, the plaintiffs in the lawsuit have asked the Superior Court to create by judicial fiat the public policy of the State as it pertains to marriage. They have requested an unconstitutional exercise of the authority of the courts of our State."

For more information, go to voteformarriagenc.com.

— Catholic News Herald