By DENISE LAVOIE
The Associated Press
Thursday, May 4, 2006; 7:18 PM
BOSTON -- The same court that made Massachusetts the first state to legalize gay marriage is now mulling whether citizens have the right to get around its ruling by amending the state constitution to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman.
The Supreme Judicial Court, which cleared the way for gay marriages with its landmark ruling in 2003, heard arguments Thursday on a referendum proposed for the 2008 statewide ballot.
Supporters of same-sex marriages are trying to block the proposal that would ban future marriages for gay couples. They say the state constitution bars any citizen-initiated amendment that seeks to reverse a judicial ruling.
"The people shouldn't be able to directly attack" a court decision, said Gary Buseck, legal director of Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders, which filed the lawsuit.
Attorney General Tom Reilly, who approved the question for the ballot, maintains the proposed amendment would not reverse the court's ruling or invalidate existing gay marriages. Instead, the question, if approved by voters, would amend the state constitution so that no additional gay marriages could take place.
"This amendment does not put the people in the position of declaring" the court decision wrong, Assistant Attorney General Peter Sacks argued.
More than 7,000 gay couples have wed in Massachusetts since same-sex marriages were allowed beginning in May 2004.
The court on Thursday did not indicate when they might rule.
Reilly, a Democratic candidate for governor, initially opposed gay marriage, but later became a supporter, saying he has seen that the same-sex unions have not hurt Massachusetts.
"While the attorney general does not personally support the proposal, we are confident that letting this question proceed was the proper legal decision," Reilly spokeswoman Meredith Baumann said in a statement Thursday.
The ballot question was certified after more than 124,000 signatures were collected.
Before it can be placed on the 2008 ballot, supporters must win the votes of 50 lawmakers _ 25 percent of the Legislature _ in two successive legislative sessions.
