MassEquality Applauds Legislators for Fighting Back Against Frivolous Federal Lawsuit

30 December 2006

MassEquality applauds the action by fourteen Massachusetts legislators who today issued a motion for sanctions against VoteOnMarriage.org, its leaders, and attorneys. The motion was filed in response to VoteOnMarriage.org's lawsuit in federal court against the 109 legislators who voted to recess November's Constitutional Convention.

On today's filing, MassEquality Campaign Director Marc Solomon said, "This federal lawsuit is completely without merit and was designed solely to intimidate legislators. The true nature of this lawsuit was made apparent this week when papers were served to legislators at their homes as they and their families celebrated the holidays."

"It's a well-settled matter of law that legislators acting in a legislative capacity are immune from the types of claims brought by our opponents. We're thrilled that legislators are fighting back against these intimidation tactics by seeking to have this case dismissed and sanctions levied against Voteonmarriage.org, its leaders and attorneys."

Background

On December 13, Voteonmarriage.org sued in U.S. District Court the 109 Massachusetts legislators who voted on November 9, 2006, to recess a Constitutional Convention without voting on a proposed constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. In their lawsuit, Voteonmarriage.org claims that the legislators' actions on November 9 violated plaintiff's rights under the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution. The Voteonmarriage.org lawsuit seeks compensatory and punitive damages from the legislators in the amount of $5 million, as well as declaratory and injunctive relief.

The motion issued today by fourteen legislators claims that Voteonmarriage.org and the other plaintiffs in this case have brought a baseless and frivolous lawsuit in violation of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure section 11(b). Following procedure, attorneys representing the legislators forwarded the motion to the plaintiffs, who have 21 days to withdraw their pleading. If they do not do so, the legislators will file the motion in federal court.

The fourteen legislators bringing this motion for sanctions are:

Senator Jarrett Barrios (D- Cambridge)

Representative Ruth Balser (D- Brookline)

Representative Garrett Bradley (D- Hingham)

Representative Michael Festa (D- Melrose)

Representative Jay Kaufman (D- Lexington)

Representative John Keenan (D- Salem)

Representative Barbara L'Italien (D- Andover)

Representative Elizabeth Malia (D- Jamaica Plain)

Representative Anne Paulsen (D- Belmont)

Representative Kathi-Anne Reinstein (D- Revere)

Representative Carl Sciortino (D- Medford)

Representative Frank Smizik (D- Brookline)

Representative David Torrisi (D- North Andover)

Representative Cleon Turner (D- Dennis)

MassEquality was founded as a coalition dedicated to protecting the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court's decision on marriage equality and to defeating any discriminatory amendment to the Massachusetts state constitution.

Contact: Marc Solomon

Campaign Director

Mobile (617) 283-8237

Source: prnewswire

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