FRC Praises Fifth Circuit for Affirming Traditional Family

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Apr 13, 2011, 04:22 ET

WASHINGTON, April 13, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Family Research Council (FRC) praised the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit for ruling in Adar v. Smith that a Louisiana registrar's insistence that only one father's name could go on a birth certificate for a child adopted by a homosexual couple did not violate the child's right to equal protection under law, while not denying legal recognition of the New York adoption by both men.

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FRC submitted an amicus brief in the case, along with the Louisiana Family Forum, in support of the defendant, registrar Darlene Smith. Alliance Defense Fund Senior Legal Counsel Austin Nimocks authored the brief for FRC.

FRC President Tony Perkins made the following comments about the decision:

"The full U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit made the right decision by defending a state's right to order its own birth records and affirming the traditional family. The Court has affirmed that the U.S. Constitution does not force states where the law recognizes traditional families to issue official documents, such as birth certificates, to legitimize homosexual relationships.

"The full Fifth Circuit, sitting en banc with sixteen judges hearing the appeal, reversed the lower court, holding that Louisiana's refusal to issue a birth certificate for a child that was originally adopted by two men in New York does not violate the Full Faith and Credit Clause or the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution. A solid majority of the court recognized that Louisiana has a legitimate interest in promoting stable families in the context of a married couple, and denied the novel arguments that two men – who could simply go their separate ways any day with no legal consequence – can override state law to force Louisiana to issue official documents legitimizing their current, non-binding relationship."

To read FRC's amicus brief in the case, click here: http://www.frc.org/legalbrief/amicus-brief-adar-v-smith.

SOURCE Family Research Council