Shurtleff calls guv wrong

A statement by Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. that civil unions may be allowed under Utah law is incorrect, the state's top lawyer says.

Attorney General Mark Shurtleff said Utah's marriage amendment clearly bans civil unions, and the attorney general said he was "surprised" to hear Huntsman say otherwise Thursday, during the governor's monthly press conference on KUED 7.

Asked if he would support a repeal of the state's ban on domestic unions, Huntsman said, "I don't know that (Amendment 3) bans it specifically."

"I think that ultimately could be a court case and that might be adjudicated in court over time if it ever gets to that level," Huntsman said. "But that wasn't clear. I mean, that spoke to marriage. And anything, any subordinate to marriage, I think, would probably be adjudicated in a court of law, would be my guess."

Earlier this year, Huntsman announced public support for civil unions in Utah and the position has garnered national attention.

"He believes this will play out in the judicial system, and his understanding is that civil unions are something that would be allowed," his spokeswoman, Lisa Roskelley, said Friday. "That was his position when he was supporting Amendment 3."

But legal experts said Utah's marriage amendment is clear.

"I was surprised (at Huntsman) because I talked to his legal counsel some months ago and was asked that direct question," Shurtleff said. "It couldn't be more clear."

Utah's Amendment 3, which was passed by voters in 2004, defines marriage as only between a man and a woman and specified that no "other domestic union, however denominated, may be recognized as a marriage or given the same or substantially equivalent legal effect."

The amendment might even outlaw other benefits to same-sex couples, such as hospital visitation and wrongful death rights, Shurtleff said. "That's why I opposed it."

While Amendment 3 may end up before a court, there's no legal ground to support civil unions, said the Marriage Law Foundation's Bill Duncan.

"Obviously anything can be adjudicated in court," Duncan said. "There are people who argue that polygamy should be allowed in Utah, but the state constitution specifically says otherwise. That's clearly the case with civil unions."

E-mail: afalk@desnews.com