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mlive.com
Everything Michigan
Mich. Supreme Court
rules against taxpayers
challenging same-sex
benefits
By AP mlive.com on
the Web, July 25, 2007
LANSING, Mich. — The Michigan
Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled against 17 taxpayers who filed a lawsuit
challenging the Ann Arbor school district's same-sex benefits policy.
The justices agreed the citizens cannot proceed with the suit, though some
disagreed over the reason why.
The case involved whether the taxpayers followed the proper procedure to stop
Ann Arbor Public Schools from offering benefits to gay couples.
The state appeals court dismissed the case in 2005 and ruled the taxpayers
didn't "demand" that the district stop providing the benefits to gay partners
before filing suit, as required under state law. They had sent letters to
school board members asking them to stop the policy.
The high court's majority said the taxpayers did enough to challenge the policy
but still ruled the plaintiffs lacked standing, or the right to sue.
The broader issue of same-sex benefits stems from a 2004 voter-approved
constitutional amendment making the union between a man and a woman the only
agreement recognized as a marriage "or similar union for any purpose."
The Supreme Court will hold oral arguments on the constitutionality of same-sex
benefits in the next term.
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