<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto"><div><span></span></div><div><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div>Courtesy of today's (October 22, 2014) Spokesman-Review.</div><div><br></div><div>-------------------------------------</div><div><br></div><div><h1 style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; clear: both; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; line-height: 1.2; font-size: 28px; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(17, 17, 17);">Otter seeks full panel review of gay marriage ruling</h1><p style="margin-bottom: 21px; overflow: visible !important;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">BOISE – Idaho Gov. Butch Otter wants a larger group of judges to reconsider the recent decision that overturned the state’s ban on same-sex marriage. “I will continue defending Idahoans’ self-determination and the will of Idaho voters who decided that traditional marriage is a core principle of our society,” Otter said.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 21px; overflow: visible !important;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The governor on Tuesday announced that he would file a petition seeking a review at the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals by an 11-judge panel. A three-judge panel made the earlier decision ruling that Idaho’s ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional. Otter and Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden earlier requested that the 9th Circuit assign a full 11-judge panel to hear Idaho’s case, rather than a three-judge panel. That request was denied. Wasden didn’t join with Otter in Tuesday’s petition. </span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 21px; overflow: visible !important;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">However, his spokesman, Todd Dvorak, said Wasden plans to file an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court in the coming weeks.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 21px; overflow: visible !important;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Deborah Ferguson, attorney for the four Idaho couples who successfully sued to overturn Idaho’s same-sex marriage ban, said, “If necessary, we will continue to defend the District Court and 9th Circuit decision.”</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 21px; overflow: visible !important;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Otter, in a news release, warned of “increased religious strife” because “unaccountable judges,” not the “democratic process,” were making the call on gay marriage.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 21px; overflow: visible !important;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“One of the key arguments against the Idaho Constitution’s defense of traditional marriage has been that redefining it to include same-sex couples would not harm anyone. But the Hitching Post example shows the fallacy of that position,” he said.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 21px; overflow: visible !important;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The Hitching Post wedding chapel in Coeur d’Alene has filed a federal lawsuit against the city of Coeur d’Alene, saying the city’s anti-discrimination ordinance would force its owners to perform marriages that they object to on religious grounds. That prompted a fundamentalist Christian group in Mississippi to claim that the city of Coeur d’Alene has threatened to arrest the two ordained ministers who own the chapel – but there was no such threat.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 21px; overflow: visible !important;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The city has asked that the lawsuit be withdrawn; the chapel recently filed to become a religious corporation, which would exempt it from the city ordinance.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 21px; overflow: visible !important;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Otter is in the midst of campaigning for a third term; his two leading opponents, Democrat A.J. Balukoff and Libertarian John Bujak, oppose continuing Idaho’s court fight against same-sex marriage, which became legal in Idaho last week.</span></p></div><div>-------------------------------------<br><br><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)</span></div><div><a href="http://www.moscowcares.com/" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><font color="#000000">http://www.MoscowCares.com</font></a></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></div><div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Tom Hansen</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Moscow, Idaho</span></div></div><div> </div></div></div></body></html>