The Legal Counsel to the state of Morelos, Manuel Díaz Carbajal, suggested that the state could file a complaint with the nation’s Supreme Court to appeal a decision by one of its justices dismissing their case. This controversy involves the gay marriage law passed by Mexico City’s legislature last December. Five state governors, including Morelos’s, have objected to the law and have attempted to fight it in the Supreme Court. All five belong to the National Action Party (Partido de Acción Nacional, PAN).
Sergio Valls Hernández (the Supreme Court Justice assigned to decide whether the PAN governors have legal standing) has dismissed some of these states’ suits as inadmissible and is expected to rule similarly for the remaining ones. According to one source, the justice dismissed these suits on the basis that states cannot force a change in the laws of another sovereign entity, in this case Mexico City. Mr. Díaz Carbajal’s comments come less than one week after these decisions. He stated that the Morelos state government believes the justice erred in his decision and that the state does have a valid argument.
He said that Article 121 of the national Constitution states that a marriage made in one state is valid throughout the country, and that this ‘full faith and credit’ clause could mean that a gay marriage in Mexico City must also be valid in Morelos. Morelos only recognizes heterosexual marriages by law. Therefore, according to him, an unconstitutional conflict of laws does exist and the Supreme Court should hear its case on the merits.
Sources:
Gay, Victoria. “Corte desecha controversias por bodas gay.” El Universal. Feberero 19, 2010.
SDP Noticias. “SCJN desecha recurso de Sonora contra bodas gay.” Redacción/SDP. Febrero 23, 2010.
