25.3059.04000
Sixty-ninth
Legislative Assembly
of North Dakota
Introduced by
Representatives Tveit, K. Anderson, Morton, S. Olson, Rohr, Henderson, Hoverson
Senators Clemens, Enget, Lemm, Magrum, Weston
A concurrent resolution urging the United States Supreme Court to restore the definition of
marriage to a union between one man and one woman.
WHEREAS, the United States Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, 135 S.Ct.
2584 (2015), conflicts with the United States Constitution and the principles upon which the
United States was established; and
WHEREAS, liberty has long been understood as individual freedom from governmental
action, not as a right to a particular governmental entitlement; and
WHEREAS, Obergefell v. Hodges invokes a definition of liberty the framers of the United
States Constitution would not have recognized, rejecting the idea captured in the Declaration of
Independence that human dignity is innate, and instead suggesting it comes from the
government; and
WHEREAS, the framers of the United States Constitution proclaimed in the Declaration of
Independence that all men are created equal and endowed by their creator with certain
unalienable rights and refer to the laws of nature and God, to which all men are subject; and
WHEREAS, Obergefell v. Hodges undermines this vision by declaring that citizens must
seek dignity from the state; and
WHEREAS, the judicial branch of government is authorized to interpret the law but it does
not have the authority to legislate from the bench to enact policy decisions, as legislative
powers are properly vested in the legislative branch of government; and
WHEREAS, Obergefell v. Hodges relies on the dangerous fiction of treating the due
process clause as a font of substantive rights, a doctrine which strays from the full meaning of
the United States Constitution and exalts judges at the expense of the people from whom they
derive their authority; and
Page No. 1 25.3059.04000
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 3013
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23 Sixty-ninth
Legislative Assembly
WHEREAS, the Obergefell v. Hodges decision's inversion of the original meaning of liberty
causes collateral damage to other aspects of our constitutional order that protect liberty,
including religious liberty; and
WHEREAS, Obergefell v. Hodges requires states to issue a marriage license to a same-sex
couple and recognize same-sex marriage in complete contravention of a state's own
constitution and the will of the state's voters, thus undermining the civil liberties of those states'
residents and voters; and
WHEREAS, marriage as an institution has been recognized as a union between one man, a
biological male, and one woman, a biological female, for more than two thousand years, and
within common law, the basis of the United States Anglo-American legal tradition, for more than
eight hundred years; and
WHEREAS, Obergefell v. Hodges arbitrarily and unjustly rejected the definition of marriage
as a union between one man and one woman in favor of a novel, flawed interpretation of key
clauses within the United States Constitution and our nation's legal and cultural precedents; and
WHEREAS, Obergefell v. Hodges is an illegitimate overreach;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF
NORTH DAKOTA, THE SENATE CONCURRING THEREIN:
The Sixty-ninth Legislative Assembly rejects the United States Supreme Court decision in
Obergefell v. Hodges and urges the United States Supreme Court to overturn the decision and
leave unaddressed the natural definition of marriage as a union between one man, a biological
male, and one woman, a biological female; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED , the Sixty-ninth Legislative Assembly insists on restoring the
issue of marriage and enforcement of all laws pertaining to marriage back to the states and the
people; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED , that the Secretary of State forward a copy of this resolution
to the United States Supreme Court.
Page No. 2 25.3059.04000
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