At 10 am est, the MA SJC ruled in favor of the legislature on the legality of the non-vote on gay marriage.
It ruled that the court can not interfere or intercede in any way on a ruling or action of another branch of the State government.
I’m sure you legal eagles will be able to explain it more clearly.
It comes as probably the last blow to exiting Governor Mitt Romney.
I’m sure the discussion will continue and January 2nd may or may not produce more results. Time will tell.
Just wanted to get this out here ASAP.
Please share widely!
No really big surprise here — exactly as I expected. The SJC expanded on its earlier LIMITS case to make its interpretation of Article 48 more clear, noting that a vote to recess is not “final action” on the amendment as specified in Article 48.
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However, the court wisely opted to avoid any serious separation of powers issues by refusing to develop some sort of judicial mechanism for forcing the amendment on the ballot. As the court stated, the only recourse is at the ballot box, which is exactly the proper procedure here.