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Legal Battle Re-Enacted on Constitution Day

Flickr - Kevin Goebel

Idahoans will have a chance to weigh in on the state's controversial ban on same-sex marriages in a special statewide panel discussion sponsored by the University of Idaho. The televised debate Wednesday afternoon will feature lawyers on both sides of the contentious issue - two attorneys for same-sex couples who sued last year to overturn Idaho's law against same-sex marriages, and Governor Butch Otter's lawyer who argued to uphold the ban.

The two sides fired their final legal salvoes before the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals last week. but odds are that the Idaho case - or others like it - will eventually be heard by the US Supreme Court. Video links at the Coeur d' Alene and Moscow University of Idaho campuses will be open to the public for the program beginning at 3 pm.

The discussion is meant to highlight observance of Constitution Day which marks ratification of the US Constitution in 1787. It may also highlight key differences between the state and the US constitutions. Idaho's constitution has been amended more than 100 times, and one of those - adopted in 2006 - was to specifically ban same sex marriages.
 

The federal constitution has been amended 33 times, including the first ten which are commonly called the bill of rights.  

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