Recent court challenges to bans on same-sex marriage have in several cases, resulted in judges striking down the laws, such as last week in Virginia.
Alaska has a constitutional amendment that bans same-sex marriage and state attorneys have filed support briefs for states fighting to preserve their own constitutional bans.
One such case in Nevada changed recently when the Attorney General there said they would back away from the suit after it appeared likely to be appealed to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Alaska has an amicus curiae brief supporting Nevada’s ban. Alaska’s Attorney General Michael Geraghty said, even though Nevada officials are abandoning the case, the Alaska brief will remain.
“There are a number of challenges going on across the country and we’ll continue to support those briefs and those states that are fighting to preserve their own constitutional provisions and so that’s what we’ll continue to do,” he said.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen to the case, this specific case since Nevada has elected to let it drop, but there are other cases and will continue to percolate through the federal courts.”
Geraghty said he won’t speculate about whether Alaska’s ban will survive a future challenge.
“I’m not gonna predict how the court will eventually decide that issue, I will say that as long as we have that in our constitution, I’ll continue to support it,” he said. “My personal beliefs are not part of the equation and we’ll continue to support our constitution.”
Alaska voters approved a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage in 1998.
