00CS FOR SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 25(RLS)                                                                       
01 Urging an appeal of a case concerning marriage.                                                                         
02 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                              
03  WHEREAS marriage has been the foundation of civilization for thousands of years                                      
04 in cultures around the world, and it is the single most important social institution; and                               
05  WHEREAS marriage is defined in all 50 states as the legal union of a man and a                                       
06 woman, and two sexes must be present for it to be marriage; and                                                         
07  WHEREAS marriage connotes social, economic, and spiritual union; and                                                 
08  WHEREAS marriage is an independently quantifiable good for society; hence the state                                  
09 has an interest in preserving and protecting the special status of marriage, regardless of                              
10 religious beliefs; and                                                                                                  
11  WHEREAS the Alaska State Legislature in 1996, through passage of Senate Bill 308,                                    
12 confirmed the definition of marriage in Alaska as being the union of one man and one woman;                             
13 and                                                                                                                     
14  WHEREAS a strong majority of Alaskans understand and agree with this definition                                      

01 of marriage; and                                                                                                        
02  WHEREAS Superior Court Judge Peter Michalski in his February 27, 1998, ruling in                                     
03 Brause and Dugan v. State of Alaska seriously jeopardized the ability of the State of Alaska                            
04 to enforce this definition;                                                                                             
05  BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature respectfully requests Governor                                      
06 Tony Knowles to direct the Department of Law to use every appropriate resource available                                
07 and due diligence to file and expedite an appeal of Brause and Dugan v. State of Alaska to                              
08 the Alaska Supreme Court; and be it                                                                                     
09  FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature respectfully requests that                                        
10 the Alaska Supreme Court agree to review Judge Michalski's ruling, in light of the significant                          
11 Constitutional issues involved.