Officials to fight ACLU lawsuit

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A group of Maryland lawmakers yesterday said they will file an appeal to oppose an American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit that aims to force Baltimore and four counties to accept same-sex "marriages."

"We have asked to be permitted to intervene so that we might be able to put out a serious and truthful defense of Maryland's marriage statute," said Delegate Donald H. Dwyer Jr., Anne Arundel County Republican.

The lawmakers -- seven Republicans and one Democrat -- were rebuffed last month by Baltimore Circuit Court Judge M. Brooke Murdoch, who ruled that the lawmakers could not join the defendants in the ACLU lawsuit. The defendants are Dorchester, Prince George's, St. Mary's and Washington counties and the city of Baltimore.

Mr. Dwyer said a lawyer representing him and the other lawmakers sent a letter of intent to appeal the decision in time for the court's Friday deadline.

"I -- as a member of the legislature, along with the other members -- have an obligation to do everything within [my] power to protect and defend the sanctity of marriage in our state," Mr. Dwyer said. "This is certainly another step in the process that I believe we must follow."

The lawsuit challenges a 1979 state law that defines marriage as existingonly between a man and a woman.

Judge Murdoch ruled on Sept. 17 that Mr. Dwyer and Delegates Emmett C. Burns Jr., Baltimore County Democrat; Herb McMillan, Anne Arundel County Republican; Joseph C. Boteler III, Baltimore County Republican; Christopher B. Shank, Washington County Republican; and Sens. Andrew P. Harris, Baltimore County Republican; Alexander X. Mooney, Frederick County Republican; and Janet Greenip, Anne Arundel County Republican; could not be co-defendants.

The judge wrote in a one-page order that an "intervention would unduly delay and prejudice the adjudication of the rights of the original parties." She also ruled against two other parties seeking a similar inclusion in the suit -- one also has appealed for the case to be heard on March 14.

Dan Furmansky, executive director of homosexual rights advocacy group Equality Maryland, said the lawmakers "need to let the court do its job."

"We are confident that their motion to intervene will be rejected on appeal as well," Mr. Furmansky said.

In July, the ACLU filed the lawsuit against Baltimore and the four counties, saying the state law that denies same-sex couples the right to "marry" is a violation of constitutional guarantees of equality.

Maryland Attorney General J. Joseph Curran Jr., a Democrat, has said he welcomes a court opinion, but Republican Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. has said he would sign a defense-of-marriage act.

"The ACLU simply lost their way," Mr. Ehrlich said. "It's simply the ACLU and their far-left agenda."