Monte Neil Stewart

stewart@stm-law.com
STEWART TAYLOR & MORRIS PLLC
LAWYERS
12550 W. Explorer Drive, Suite 100
Boise, ID 83713
Telephone (208) 345-3333
Facsimile (208) 345-4461

Monte Neil Stewart
Craig G. Taylor
Thomas C. Morris
Daniel W. Bower
Gabriel M. Haws
Chad E. Bernards
Richard S. Bower
Ammon C. Taylor

May 6, 2014

Via CM/ECF Electronic Filing System

Molly C. Dwyer, Clerk of the Court
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals

Re: Sevcik v. Sandoval, Case No. 12-17668;
Appellee Coalition for the Protection of Marriages Rule 28(j) citation
of supplemental authority: Town of Greece v. Galloway, No. 12-696
(U.S. May 5, 2014), slip opinion attached

Dear Clerk:

Yesterdays opinion of the Supreme Court in Town of Greece supports the
Coalitions showing that Nevadas man-woman definition of marriage is consistent
with any proper reading of the Fourteenth Amendment.

In upholding the towns practice of beginning town council meetings with
prayer, the Court made several statements indicating that the First Amendments
Establishment Clause, made applicable to the States through the Fourteenth
Amendment, should not be interpreted in a way that renders invalid a practice
like prayer in public meetingsthat was well established at the time the First and
Fourteenth Amendments were adopted. For example, referring to the Courts
earlier decision in Marsh v. Chambers, 463 U.S. 783 (1983), the Court said:

Marsh stands for the proposition that it is not necessary to define the
precise boundary of the Establishment Clause where history shows
that the specific practice is permitted. Any test the Court adopts must
acknowledge a practice that was accepted by the Framers and has
withstood the critical scrutiny of time and political change.

Slip Op. at 8. So too here: Any test the Court adopts for determining Fourteenth
Amendment limitations on a States authority to define marriage ought likewise
Case: 12-17668 05/06/2014 ID: 9084929 DktEntry: 201-1 Page: 1 of 2
Ninth Circuit Clerk
May 6, 2014
Page 2



respect a practicenamely, the man-woman definition of marriagethat was
universally accepted by the Framers of the Fourteenth Amendment. See
Coalition Answering Br. at 88-89, 99-100 (Dkt. No. 110-3).

Also, speaking of the purpose and effect of the town council prayer in
Town of Greece, the Court went on to hold that [t]he inclusion of a brief,
ceremonial prayer as part of a larger exercise in civic recognition suggests that its
purpose and effect are to acknowledge religious leaders and the institutions they
represent, rather than to exclude or coerce nonbelievers. Slip Op. at 23. So too
here: Nevadas protection of the man-woman definition of marriage as part of a
larger exercise directed at maximizing the number of children raised by both a
mother and a father likewise shows that the purpose and effect of that definition
are not to harm gays and lesbians or their families. See Coalition Answering Br. at
34-48, 99-100.

Respectfully submitted,


___/s/___
Monte Neil Stewart
Counsel for Appellee Coalition for the
Protection of Marriage

Attachment





Case: 12-17668 05/06/2014 ID: 9084929 DktEntry: 201-1 Page: 2 of 2