February 10, 2011 09:23 PM UTC

Former Supreme Court Justice Demolishes Suthers' DOMA Meddling

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• by: Colorado Pols

In the editorial pages of today’s Denver newspaper, you’ll find a must-read takedown of Colorado Attorney General John Suthers by former Colorado Supreme Court Justice Jean Dubofsky, over his recent amicus brief in support of the federal government’s case regarding the Defense of Marriage Act. As we discussed a couple of weeks ago, Suthers joined this case in Massachusetts initially claiming that he was defending “a Colorado constitutional provision.”

We were contacted the morning this story published by a source knowledgeable of the case who explained that this claim by Suthers is false–as we said then, there are several sections of DOMA in question, and the lawsuit in Massachusetts pertains to federal benefits for same-sex couples that are already recognized by the state in question–not the section of DOMA that pertains to the authority of states to accept or reject marriages from other states.

The next day, the AG’s office admitted that the Massachusetts case, however decided, “technically wouldn’t invalidate our law.” And today, Dubofsky rips apart the original claim that Suthers’ actions would defend Colorado law, then explains that if his second explanation is true, and he joined the brief in support of “states rights,” then he actually joined the wrong side of the case.

To be honest, we’re aware that this issue isn’t going to rank at the top of every Colorado voter’s priority list, even though the demographics of the electorate are making it less of a controversy with each passing day. Faced with a huge budget crisis and so many other challenges, there’s just a lot of headline-grabbing issues out there competing for importance.

But Suthers sure seems to think gay marriage, and opposing it wherever he can, is awfully important–even to the point of making questionable claims about why he is involved at all.