PRESERVATION OF MARRIAGE
JOINT RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, the United States Supreme Court has defined the family as
“consisting in and springing from the union for life of one man and one woman in the
holy estate of matrimony; the sure foundation of all that is stable and noble in our
civilization; the best guaranty of that reverent morality which is the source of all
beneficent progress in social and political improvement,” Murphy v. Ramsey, 114 U.S. 15,
45 (1885), quoted in United States v. Bitty, 208 U.S. 393, 401 (1908); and
WHEREAS, the United States Supreme Court described marriage as “an
institution, in the maintenance of which in its purity the public is deeply interested, for it
is the foundation of the family and of society, without which there would be neither
civilization nor progress,” Maynard v. Hill, 125 U.S. 190, 211 (1888); and
WHEREAS, the United States Supreme Court in 1977 stated that “the basic
foundation of the family in our society [is] the marriage relationship,” Smith v. Org. of
Foster Families For Equal. & Reform, 431 U.S. 816, 843 (1977); and
WHEREAS, Article XIV Section 263A of the Mississippi Constitution
provides that, “Marriage may take place and may be valid under the laws of this
state only between a man and a woman. A marriage in another state or foreign
jurisdiction between persons of the same gender, regardless of when the marriage
took place, may not be recognized in this state and is void and unenforceable
under the laws of this state,” M.S. Const. art. XIV, § 263A (2004); and
WHEREAS, Mississippi statutory law provides, “Any marriage between
persons of the same gender is prohibited and null and void from the beginning.
Any marriage between persons of the same gender that is valid in another
jurisdiction does not constitute a legal or valid marriage in Mississippi,” Miss.
Code. Ann. § 93-1-1(1997); and
WHEREAS, a number of Mississippi Supreme Court decisions emphasize
the sanctity of the traditional marriage relationship: “It is essential to the
happiness of social life, that the confidence subsisting between husband and wife
should be sacredly protected and cherished in its most unlimited extent; and to
break down or impair the great principles which protect the sanctities of that
relation would be to destroy the best solace of human existence.” Byrd v. State, 57
Miss. 243, 244-45, 34 Am. Rep. 440 (Miss. 1879) (quoting Greenleaf in his work on
Evidence, vol. 1, § 334); see also Colored Knights of Pythias v. Tucker, 46 So. 51, 52
(Miss. 1908) (stating “It is universal law that the presumption in favor of the
validity of a formal marriage is one of the strongest known to the law, because of
its sacredness and public importance”); see also Crawford v. State, 18 So. 848
(Miss. 1895) (stating, “By the law itself, marriage is regarded as a contract, and
more than an ordinary contract which affects only property rights; for, in marriage
contracts, not only are the parties thereto vitally concerned, but society-the state
itself-is likewise concerned,”); and
WHEREAS, in 2013 the United States Supreme Court officially severed its
respect for marriage by declaring unconstitutional the Defense of Marriage Act
(DOMA) which defined marriage for federal purposes as existing between one
man and one woman, United States v. Windsor, 133 S. Ct. 2675 (2013),
NOW THEREFORE, the Legislature of the State of Mississippi hereby
submits the following Joint Resolution to the United States Congress entitled
Marriage Preservation Amendment to the United States Constitution.
Application to the United States Congress
to call a Convention for proposing an amendment
to the United States Constitution.
Pursuant to Article V of the United States Constitution, the Legislature of the State of
Mississippi by a joint resolution of the Senate and House of Representatives hereby makes
application to the United States Congress to call a Convention for proposing the following
amendment to the Constitution of the United States.
Marriage Preservation Amendment to the United States Constitution
Nothing in this Constitution or in the constitution or laws of any state shall define
or shall be construed to define marriage except as the union of one man and one woman,
and no other union shall be recognized with the legal incidents thereof within the United
States or any place subject to their jurisdiction.