One lawsuit filed by David Fowler and his Family Action of Council of Tennessee on the definition of marriage has been dismissed.
Mr. Fowler, a former state senator from Hamilton County, said, "Late yesterday the Constitutional Government Defense Fund (an initiative of Family Action Council of Tennessee, Inc.) received notice that Williamson County Judge Joseph Woodruff dismissed the lawsuit regarding the impact of Obergefell v. Hodges on Tennessee's marriage license law that it had filed.
"As attorney for the Constitutional Government Defense Fund, I am, of course, disappointed that the court ruled that ministers do not have standing to determine their obligations and liabilities under the state's marriage laws after Obergefell and that citizens do not have standing to assert a violation of their state constitutional right to have their marriage laws "prescribed by the General Assembly" rather than by the U.S. Supreme Court.
"However, I do appreciate the fact that Judge Woodruff said in passing that the U.S. Supreme Court's Obergefell decision 'deviate[d] from the judicial function' to 'embark upon the creation of social policy' and in doing so 'invalidate[d] the marriage laws of more than half the States.'
"Thankfully, a similar lawsuit is pending in Bradley County, and we look forward to the opportunity for oral argument given to us by the Judge in that case. That other lawsuit, along with a possible appeal of Judge Woodruff's decision, will provide us an opportunity to press forward in defense of the constitutional rights of Tennessee's citizens that have been abridged by what we believe has been an uncritical and incorrect application of the Obergefell decision by other branches of government to the laws regulating marriage between state residents. The matter is far from over in my opinion."