A Tennessee state
senator failed to appear at a deposition for a lawsuit
over a proposal he cosponsored that would enact a
constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. Sen. Jeff
Miller, a Republican from Cleveland, Tenn., was
scheduled to appear for questioning by the American Civil
Liberties Union. The group has filed suit to try to
stop the state from putting before voters a proposed
constitutional amendment that would ban same-sex marriage.
The ACLU filed a motion asking a judge to order
Miller, who is a lawyer, to appear. The ACLU told the
court it wasn't given a reason why Miller wouldn't
appear for the deposition, which was scheduled on the date
his attorneys requested. "We were very disappointed
that Senator Miller chose not to attend his
deposition," said Hedy Weinberg, ACLU state executive director.
The Tennessee legislature approved a measure to
put the proposed amendment, which defines marriage as
the union of one man and one woman, on the
November 2006 ballot.
The ACLU, the Tennessee Equality Project, three
state legislators, and several individuals filed the
lawsuit in Davidson County chancery court earlier this
year, challenging the way lawmakers took up the resolution.
Miller is among 90 lawmakers who sought to
intervene to help defend the proposed amendment. They
are being represented by the nonprofit Alliance
Defense Fund, which didn't immediately return calls seeking
comment Thursday. "I don't know his reasoning, but I
do know that, as a lawyer, he knows that he would be
subject to sanctions, and I'm sure he measured that
when he decided not to appear," said state senator Jim
Kyle, the Democrat's senate leader and a Memphis attorney.
Another cosponsor of the measure, Republican
state representative Bill Dunn of Knoxville, appeared
for his deposition this week. (AP)