SUIT FILED TO BLOCK ARKANSAS MARRIAGE AMENDMENT: From 365Gay.com

The American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas today filed a legal challenge on behalf of three concerned citizens to the so-called "Amendment Concerning Marriage."

The ballot initiative was certified last month for the November ballot by the Arkansas Secretary of State. The challenge, which is based on the Arkansas state constitution, maintains that the ballot initiative is misleading to voters and, if passed, could potentially make significant changes to the legal landscape for single Arkansans. ...

"For starters, this amendment would give the legislature the power to ignore Arkansas's current protections for married people," said Rita Sklar, Executive Director of the ACLU of Arkansas.

"The Arkansas constitution currently grants married people the right to keep their homes if they go bankrupt: with this amendment this right could be swept away by the legislature. We're also concerned about the potential loss of rights to single people, since the amendment's wording could mean that any law prohibiting discrimination based on marital status is invalid. Single people could return to their former position as second-class citizens when it comes to things like availability of credit. But most of all, we think the average voter standing in the voting booth is not going to be able to see all the possible effects of this amendment: they'll just think they're voting against same sex marriage."

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posted by Eve at 7:08 PM | link

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