ACLU-Vermont E-update 4-3-09

Same-Sex Marriage

The Vermont House gave final approval to S. 115, the same-sex marriage bill, on a 94-52 vote Friday afternoon. (The initial vote Thursday was 95-52.)

The action sets up a political showdown with Gov. James Douglas, who has vowed to veto the bill.

The timing of the showdown is unclear. The House and Senate must first resolve what are relatively minor differences between each chamber’s version of the bill. That will likely happen next week, after which the bill will be sent to the governor for his review. The governor has five days to act -- to sign the bill, to veto it, or to do nothing (which results in passage without his approval).

If the governor vetoes the bill (as he’s said he will), it can still become law if two-thirds of the “members present” of each chamber -- the House and the Senate -- vote to override the veto.

There are 150 members of the House, and 30 of the Senate. So the “override” numbers are normally 100 in the House and 20 in the Senate. It’s a high bar. But 26 senators voted for the bill, assuring an override in the Senate. The rub is in the House, where only 95 House members voted for the bill (an illness Friday reduced Thursday’s tally by one).

There has been s peculation that some representatives who voted against the bill when it was on the floor of the House might change their vote and vote “yes” on an override out of respect for the legislative process.

There is also the uncertainty of how many members might be present the day an override vote is taken. This is usually a strategic calculation by the speaker to ensure the highest number of favorable votes among what may be slightly reduced attendance.

Although the speaker often doesn’t vote on floor action, he is entitled to vote on an override, observers believe. That is because the criterion in the Constitution for an override is two-thirds of the “members present.” The speaker, as long as he is in the chamber, is “present,” whether he is presiding or not.

Contact the governor’s office if you haven’t already done so, and urge him not to veto the bill. A gubernatorial decision is likely to come very quickly after final legislative action, which is expected to be early the week of April 6 (perhaps as early as Monday).

Contact info for the governor is:

• Phone -- 802/828-3333 or toll-free 800/649-6825
• E-mail -- http://governor.vermont.gov/contact.html (this is a form with fields you fill out)
• Fax -- 802/828-3339
• TTY -- 800/649-6825
• Postal mail -- Gov. James Douglas, 109 State Street, Montpelier, VT 05609-0101

The testimony and memos we’ve sent to the Judiciary Committees of the House and Senate, and our open letter to the governor, can be found in the Legislative Report section of our Web site.

While the House was voting on S. 115 Friday, the Iowa Supreme Court handed down a decision that ruled the state’s ban on gay marriage unconstitutional. The court ordered that same-sex marriages be granted starting within three weeks, making Iowa the third state to legalize gay marriage.

The court`s decision -- which was unanimous -- came in response to a 2006 lawsuit brought by six gay and lesbian Iowa couples who were denied marriage licenses.

A lower state court had ruled in their favor, and Friday the state`s Supreme Court affirmed it.

The Iowa decision left no room for the granting of marriage benefits through a parallel institution such as civil unions or domestic partnerships.

Abolish the Federal Death Penalty

U.S. Senator Russell Feingold of Wisconsin has reintroduced legislation to abolish the death penalty at the federal level. The Federal Death Penalty Abolition Act of 2009 (S. 650) would put an immediate halt to federal executions and forbid the use of the death penalty as a sentence for violations of federal law.

You can sign a petition urging our Vermont senators to support abolition of the federal death penalty at the Death Penalty Focus Web site.

Between these e-updates, watch the Civil Liberties Journal feature on the ACLU-VT home page for civil liberties news, including legislative actions.