WASHINGTON, Jan. 19, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Family Research Council and the Thomas More Society yesterday submitted an amicus curiae ("friend of the Court") brief in a lawsuit brought by advocates of same-sex "marriage." The brief was filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in Boston, and it urges the Court to reverse a July 2010 decision by Judge Joseph Tauro that struck down the federal definition of marriage contained in the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). The principal author of the amicus brief is Paul Linton, Esq., special counsel to the Thomas More Society (TMS), a national public interest law firm based in Chicago.

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Family Research Council President Tony Perkins released the following statement:

"The Obama Department of Justice (DoJ) refuses to mount a vigorous defense of DOMA. In its brief, DoJ rejects the importance of 'responsible procreation and child rearing' even though Congress asserted this as its foremost interest in passing the Defense of Marriage Act. It is also the most powerful basis for defending the statute.

"With this brief, the Family Research Council is joining allied organizations in providing the court with arguments strongly supporting the reasons why Congress overwhelmingly enacted DOMA in 1996. As a result, the principal focus of our amicus brief's second section is to demonstrate the legitimacy of Congress' interest in encouraging responsible procreation and child-rearing and to show that DOMA advances those interests through its endorsement of marriage between one man and one woman. The lower court gave short shrift to these concerns.

"This litigation directly challenges only the federal definition of marriage. However, the marriage laws of dozens of states will be mortally threatened if Judge Tauro's ruling is not reversed by either the First Circuit or the United States Supreme Court. As with abortion, judicial mandates overturning the will of the people on such a vital issue will only make the issue more volatile. As such, it is time for the far Left to stop asking judges to circumvent the will of their fellow citizens, as it has been expressed repeatedly at the ballot box, and to redefine our most fundamental institutions.

"We urge the federal courts to recognize these legitimate governmental interests, preserve the traditional understanding of marriage as the union of one man and one woman, and safeguard the right of the people to enact legislation defining the public institution of marriage.

"Since the President is failing to fulfill his constitutional duty to defend the law as it was written, it is within Congress' constitutional purview to act to defend the law as DoJ's brief is an anemic substitute for the compelling argument that the statute – and American families – deserve," concluded Perkins.

To view the brief, visit: http://www.frc.org/legalbrief/commonwealth-of-massachusetts-v-us-department-of-health-and-human-services.

SOURCE Family Research Council

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