Ruling upheld in gay
marriage suit against officials
Ashbel S. Green,
OregonLive.com from the Web, May 4, 2006
The Oregon Court of Appeals affirmed
Wednesday a lower court ruling against a man who sued Multnomah County officials
for issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples in 2004.
The court agreed that county officials could not be held liable because they had
acted under the advice of their lawyers.
In March 2004, Multnomah County began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex
couples after the county's top lawyer concluded that a state law banning such
marriages violated state constitutional protections of gays and lesbians.
In response, John Alan Belgarde, executive director of the Christian Coalition
of Oregon, sued county officials for "unauthorized expenditure of public funds."
After a judge dismissed the suit, Belgarde appealed, arguing that there was
still a factual dispute over the county's reliance on legal advice that should
be settled by a jury.
The Court of Appeals disagreed.
Although Multnomah County officials prevailed in the suit filed by Belgarde,
they lost the legal battle over same-sex marriage.
Opponents of the practice qualified a constitutional ballot measure that allowed
state recognition of only marriages between one man and one woman. Voters
handily approved the measure in November 2004.
(Emphasis added.)
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