00 SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 25                                                                                   
01 Urging an appeal and an expeditious decision on the appeal of a case concerning                                         
02 marriage.                                                                                                               
03 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                              
04  WHEREAS marriage has been the foundation of civilization for thousands of years                                      
05 in cultures around the world, and it is the single most important social institution; and                               
06  WHEREAS marriage is defined in all 50 states as the legal union of a man and a                                       
07 woman, and two sexes must be present for it to be marriage; and                                                         
08  WHEREAS marriage connotes social, economic, and spiritual union; and                                                 
09  WHEREAS marriage is an independently quantifiable good for society; hence the state                                  
10 has an interest in preserving and protecting the special status of marriage, regardless of                              
11 religious beliefs; and                                                                                                  
12  WHEREAS the Alaska State Legislature in 1996, through passage of Senate Bill 308,                                    
13 confirmed the definition of marriage in Alaska as being the union of one man and one woman;                             
14 and                                                                                                                     
01  WHEREAS a strong majority of Alaskans understand and agree with this definition                                      
02 of marriage; and                                                                                                        
03  WHEREAS Superior Court Judge Peter Michalski in his February 27, 1998, ruling in                                     
04 Brause and Dugan v. State of Alaska seriously jeopardized the ability of the State of Alaska                            
05 to enforce this definition;                                                                                             
06  BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature respectfully requests Governor                                      
07 Tony Knowles to direct the Department of Law to use every appropriate resource available                                
08 and due diligence to file and expedite an appeal of Brause and Dugan v. State of Alaska to                              
09 the Alaska Supreme Court; and be it                                                                                     
10  FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature respectfully requests that                                        
11 the Alaska Supreme Court expedite its consideration of this appeal.