PORTLAND, ORE. – The Oregon Supreme Court on Thursday voided nearly 3,000 marriage licenses issued to gay and lesbian couples last year in Multnomah County, ruling that a single county did not have the authority to act on a statewide issue.
The court, in bolstering its conclusion, noted that Oregonians in November passed a constitutional amendment defining marriage as strictly a heterosexual institution. Oregon was one of 11 states to pass such an amendment.
Conservative groups said the court ruling on top of the voter-approved amendment resolves the issue of same-sex marriage in the state.
"It’s over and done," said Tim Nashif, director of the Defense of Marriage Coalition. "Marriage has been protected in Oregon." [Source]
Count me as presently surprised that the Oregon Supreme Court, which has acted as judicial activists in the past, could not find a pretext on which to rule on the validity of the "marriage" licenses.
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The Oregon SC is actualy one of the less-activist courts around the country, it’s just that Oregonians try so many crazy laws that they have to do overtime (and the Oregon Constitution is so screwed up by people putting inititives in it all the time).