U.S. Supreme Court should uphold Ariz. marriage benefits
Alliance Defending Freedom files brief on behalf of Center for Arizona Policy
Attorney sound bite: Jim Campbell
“Society should protect and strengthen marriage, not undermine it, as this lawsuit against Arizona’s marriage benefits seeks to do. No state should be forced to offer marital benefits to unmarried couples,” said Alliance Defending Freedom Litigation Staff Counsel Jim Campbell. “The lifelong, faithful union of a man and a woman is the foundation of society. That’s why the government provides unique benefits to married couples.”
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit concluded on September 6, 2011, that Arizona’s law, which affords benefits to married spouses of state employees but not to unmarried partners of those employees, is unconstitutional.
The friend-of-the-court brief filed Friday in support of the state law in Brewer v. Diaz explains that the 9th Circuit erroneously concluded that the law unconstitutionally discriminates against same-sex couples. The brief points out that the law applies to any unmarried partner of a state employee, regardless of whether they are in same-sex or opposite-sex relationships, and that the 9th Circuit assumed an ill intent on the part of the legislature and the people of Arizona that does not exist.
The 9th Circuit has wrongfully condemned the people of Arizona as irrational for desiring to promote and protect marriage by law,” said Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Byron Babione. “In making this error, the 9th Circuit has placed the benefits and marriage laws of many other states in jeopardy.”
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ABOUT Jim Campbell
Jim Campbell serves as chief legal counsel with Alliance Defending Freedom, where he leads the U.S. Legal Advocacy team. In that role, Campbell oversees all U.S. litigation teams, Allied Legal Affairs, the Church and Ministry Alliance, and advocacy strategy. Prior to joining ADF in March 2023, Campbell was the solicitor general in the office of Nebraska Attorney General Douglas J. Peterson and Michael T. Hilgers. In that role, he represented the state of Nebraska in cases before state and federal courts and oversaw all civil appeals for the state. In February 2023, Campbell argued Biden v. Nebraska before the U.S. Supreme Court, a case in which Nebraska and five other states challenged the Biden administration’s attempt to forgive over $400 billion in federal student loans for over 40 million individuals. Before joining the Nebraska attorney general’s office in January 2020, Campbell worked as senior counsel with ADF. He earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Akron School of Law, where he graduated summa cum laude in 2006. Following law school, he clerked for the Honorable Alice M. Batchelder of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit. Campbell is admitted to the state bars of Ohio, Arizona, and Nebraska. He is also admitted to multiple federal district and appellate courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court.