Professor from the Elon University School of Law have discussed what they foresee as the implications of Amendment One at recent meetings held by the Elon Community Church.
Two of the professors, Mike Rich and Sonya Garza, both said they think the amendment is poorly written and thus could lead to unwanted consequences.
Rich said he personally disagrees with the amendment because he does not think marriage must uniquely be between two people of the opposite sex.
But when it comes to law, he said he thinks it is interesting how North Carolina is attempting to put a restriction on a statue that is already in existence in the state’s constitution and that is a restriction on people’s rights.
“Constitutions are things that we as citizens of a state put together to preventing the government from treading on our rights,” Rich said. “It seems a shame to step backwards and put another limitation on people.
He also believes that because of the language used, the amendment raises the possibility of causing other bad results that he does not think were intended by the people who wrote it.
Rich’s area of research includes criminal law and civil rights litigation. For this reason, he is most concerned about the protection of those who are victims of domestic violence.
“My concern is that any descendent who is accused of sexual violence outside of a legal marriage between a man and a woman, it could restrict the protection to non-married couples,” he said. “The amendment talks in turn of a domestic union, which has no real definition and so it will be left up to the court so there will probably be a great amount of litigation about it.”
Sonya Garza specializes in family law, and she said she is also worried about the language of the amendment in that it could affect child custody.
“The language of the amendment is unknown, so there is a high probability that child custody will be affected not just for same sex couples, but for heterosexual couples also,” Garza said. “Parents who are non-biological parents could lose their children, and so children will lose the love of a second parent.”
Garza got involved with the discussions and panels held for the Elon community by writing an op-ed. She has worked with OutLaw, a social and educational organization that fosters a supportive and accepting environment for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students, faculty, staff and professionals at Elon Law.
She said she believes there will be more panels and discussions to come before the May 8 vote, and she thinks Elon has been particularly open about having such discussions.
“I think that universities are the best place to have these types of discussions because they are places to exchange ideas,” Garza said. “I think it makes students not only think about it but talk about it with each other.”
Rich said it seems the amendment will pass, not because it will be the majority of the state’s opinion, but because it is being proposed during a primary where only one side is on the ballot.
Still, Garza believes the meetings are still very relevant for Elon.
“I think it’s good that Elon is having these discussions because I think the most important voting group is the 18-24 age group,” she said.