Marriage Victory: First Federal Appeals Court Rejects Redefinition Effort

November 6, 2014 – The Sixth Circuit Federal Court of Appeals (Tennessee, Kentucky, Michigan, and Ohio) today reversed numerous lower court rulings and upheld state marriage laws defining marriage as between one man and one woman. This is the first recent federal court of appeals decision to affirm state marriage laws and reject the efforts to use the judiciary to force states to redefine marriage. This is the third recent ruling for marriage, as a Louisiana and Puerto Rico federal court recently rejected efforts to strike down state marriage laws.

Texas Values president, Jonathan Saenz, released the following statement on the decision:

“This incredibly important ruling for marriage is no surprise to us and should be no surprise to anyone following this issue or anyone with an objective view of the law. The lawless and rogue streak of judges legislating from the bench and redefining marriage has once again been derailed, and rightly so. The Federal government and activist judges have no authority to redefine marriage in any state. Other federal judges that have ruled against such voter-approved laws on marriage are simply making up their own law as they go and thumbing their nose at the American people and our highest court. We fully expect the Fifth Circuit of Appeals to also rule in favor of marriage and reject efforts to redefine marriage very soon after its oral arguments in January.”

Texas Values recently launched the Texas Marriage Declaration and thousands of Texans have declared their support for marriage and for Texas’ right to self-governance. The state of Texas is currently appealing a recent decision by a lone Federal Judge to strike down the states’ marriage laws. Texas Values has filed a brief in the case. More information on the Texas Marriage Declaration can be found at TexasMarriageDeclaration.com.