Polk County ridicules argument against same sex marriage ban

DES MOINES (AP) -- Responding to arguments opposing the state's ban on same-sex marriage, the Polk County Attorney's Office calls them "inadmissible hearsay anecdotal remarks."

The county attorney commented on arguments in a brief supporting New York-based Lambda Legal, which filed a 2005 lawsuit that resulted in a Polk County ruling that Iowa's same-sex marriage ban was unconstitutional. The group filed its suit on behalf of six gay and lesbian couples from Iowa who were denied marriage licenses, as well as three of the couples' children.

The lawsuit names former Polk County Recorder and Registrar Timothy Brien.

The county attorney calls the friend of the court brief -- filed by gay and lesbian groups as well as lawmakers from Massachusetts -- "less of a legal brief and more of postscript of inadmissible hearsay anecdotal remarks."

In its filing this week, the county attorney's office argues that the friend of the court brief is based on news accounts after a decision in a Massachusetts same-sex marriage case.

"The brief is a collection of opinions without foundation and against which defendant cannot offer counter opinion in the time permitted ... not to mention available resources," the county attorney's office stated.

It said the Massachusetts decision has not been widely supported and that the dispute "has been a political football." Polk County officials have maintained that the decision on same-sex marriage should be left to legislators, not the courts.

Camilla Taylor, Lambda Legal's lead attorney on the Iowa case, defended the brief.

"The brief from leaders in Massachusetts is relevant because it shows that gay couples have been marrying there for four years and the sky hasn't fallen," she said in a written statement.