In Brief

Staff Reports

Sponsor Of Constitutional Amendment To Ban Same Sex Marriages In New Hampshire Drops Effort 

CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE -- New Hampshire State Representative David Bates, who was primary sponsor of a bill that would add a constitutional amendment to prohibit same-sex marriage has decided not to pursue the measure.

Bates, who is a Republican, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that he now wants to let the state's Legislature consider repealing the law enacted under Democrats two years ago before debating a constitutional change -- a process that would take longer to implement.

"The bill to change the meaning of marriage back to what it was in statute is well on its way," Bates said. He added that he did not want to risk having lawmakers choosing between two measures- the bill and a constitutional amendment.

"It would complicate the decision for legislators if there was another alternative out there," Bates said to the AP. "The legislative process seems the appropriate way to decide the issue. If a constitutional amendment is used, millions of dollars in out-of-state money would flow into New Hampshire on both sides of the issue," he said. "I don't think that's the way people want it decided," he said.

Constitutional amendments need three-fifths vote of the membership of both houses to be placed on the ballot and two-thirds approval of the voters to be adopted.

The House Judiciary Committee voted last week to recommend replacing the law legalizing same-sex marriage with civil unions for any unmarried adults, including relatives. The committee recommended killing a bill that simply repealed the law.

The full House must vote on the bills early next year. If the House passes the repeal bill, it would go to the Senate. It takes a majority to pass bills.

Democratic Gov. John Lynch has repeatedly said he will veto attempts by the Republican-controlled Legislature to repeal the law, which he signed in 2009. New Hampshire enacted civil unions in 2007 for same-sex couples and two years later replaced that law with the marriage law. Lynch also signed the civil unions law.

Repeal opponents, including some Republican lawmakers, believe the vote to pass the bill in the House early next year will be close. They believe if it passes and is vetoed, they have the votes to sustain a veto. It takes a two-thirds vote of those present and voting to override a veto. ~ Reporting from the Associated Press via The Boston Globe

Bates also told the AP, he believes the law will be repealed.

The bill would not enact the same civil unions law that was in effect before gays were allowed to marry. That law granted gays all the rights and responsibilities of marriage except in name. The proposed civil unions law would be open to any two adults and would let anyone refuse to recognize the unions. It also would allow anyone to discriminate against such couples in employment, housing and public accommodations based on religious or moral beliefs.

Same-sex marriage is currently legal in the states of New York, Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and the District of Columbia. 31 other states have passed constitutional amendments banning same-sex marriage.

Anti-Gay Former Michigan Assistant Attorney General Shirvell Files Federal Suit Over His Firing

Christopher Armstrong & Andrew Shirvell

DETROIT, MICHIGAN -- Former state's assistant attorney general Andrew Shirvell is claiming in a new lawsuit filed in U. S. District Court, that a prominent Detroit lawyer Deborah Gordon used information she had gathered from prior cases in an effort question his professional behaviour and reputation, a move Shirvell contends led to his firing.

The Detroit Free Press reports that Shirvell filed the lawsuit late Friday in federal court. He is seeking more than $75,000 in damages. It is the latest in a flurry of litigation between Shirvell and Chris Armstrong, the former University of Michigan student body president, whom Gordon is representing.

"Shirvell has a history of trying desperately to smear people, so this is no surprise," Gordon said this morning. "His complaint is absurd and without any factual or legal basis." 

Armstrong sued Shirvell for defamation for statements Shirvell made on a website attacking Armstrong’s homosexuality. Armstrong was the first openly gay student body president at U-M during his term last year. Armstrong has since graduated. Both Armstrong and Gordon have asked the state bar to strip Shirvell’s law license. Shirvell has countersued Armstrong and followed that with the suit now against Gordon. 

“As my complaint makes clear, I have uncovered a significant amount of information during the past year that shows that Deborah Gordon has deliberately set out to destroy me by any means necessary,” Shirvell said in a news release. “It is particularly shocking that an attorney like Deborah Gordon, who has made a career out of championing wrongfully terminated employees, would so viciously and maliciously interfere with my employment in order to ensure that I was terminated from my job. Ms. Gordon needs to be held accountable for her course of conduct against me, which I find beyond reprehensible. No other member of the State Bar of Michigan would ever put up with what I have put up with from Ms. Gordon over the past year. I look forward to holding Deborah Gordon accountable for her atrocious actions and libellous statements.” 

In the lawsuit, Shirvell details a number of connections he says Gordon has with people at the attorney general’s office, including with the investigator the department, under then-attorney general Mike Cox, used to investigate Shirvell. Shirvell was fired from the attorney general’s office in November 2010 for using his work computer to write his blog and for lying to investigators. Shirvell disputes those claims in the lawsuit and says they came from Gordon, who he says waged a long campaign to get him fired. Shirvell also says Gordon made a number of defamatory statements about him to a variety of media outlets after she was hired by Armstrong. Shirvell recently lost a motion in federal court seeking to have a good chunk of Armstrong’s suit against him tossed out.