Transcripts

SPEAKER: The faculty at William Mitchell College of Law in Saint Paul have taken a stand against the marriage amendment on the November ballot. They voted today to oppose a constitutional amendment that would define marriage as one man and one woman, and prohibit same-sex couples from marrying. Sasha Aslanian has more.

SASHA ASLANIAN: William Mitchell faculty members voted by secret ballot 24 to 7 in favor of a resolution that opposes what they call the anti-marriage amendment. The resolution says the ballot initiative discriminates against gay and lesbian students, staff, and faculty, and that limitations on civil rights should not be enshrined in the constitution. Daniel Kleinberger was one of three faculty who drafted the resolution. He teaches business and contract law and describes himself as a conservative. Kleinberger says it's unusual for the faculty to take a vote on a political issue, but the amendment would affect campus life.

DANIEL KLEINBERGER: This is not just an outside issue. It's not just something going on outside the walls of this institution. I have seven LGBT colleagues. That's about, what, a fifth of the full-time faculty here?

We have LGBT students. We have LGBT staff. We have a policy prohibiting sexual orientation discrimination on the campus.

SASHA ASLANIAN: Kleinberger says if the amendment passes, it could also make it harder to attract top talent to Minnesota. The resolution also includes plans to urge faculty at Minnesota's three other law schools to take similar votes. A spokesman for the University of Saint Thomas School of Law says the issue is not on any upcoming agendas. And a faculty representative for the Hamline University School of Law says faculty may take it up later this year. 20 Hamline Law professors signed a letter to the legislature last year opposing the amendment.

The University of Minnesota Law School does not have a vote scheduled, although the faculty signed a similar letter to the legislature in opposition. Prominent Minnesotans, such as former Vice President Walter Mondale and retired Supreme Court justice Kathleen Blatz launched Lawyers United for All Families last month, and have attracted more than 700 legal professionals opposing the Amendment.

But other lawyers support amending the constitution to define marriage. Teresa Collett is a law professor at the University of Saint Thomas and part of a group called Lawyers for Freedom and Marriage that's affiliated with the pro-amendment group Minnesota for Marriage. Collett says what the people put in the constitution, they can also remove.

TERESA COLLETT: I think the question is whether law school faculties should go beyond being a forum for informed, intelligent debate on these sort of public policy issues, or whether they should impose a sort of uniformity on their faculty and suggest a monolithic view.

SASHA ASLANIAN: A spokesman for Minnesota for Marriage dismissed the vote, saying it won't make any difference because Minnesotans don't want to be told by more attorneys how to vote on marriage. William Mitchell Dean Eric Janus sent an email to students this afternoon. He explained the faculty's vote as an attempt to create a culture that's welcoming and inclusive. He also wrote that employees and students are free to express their own views on marriage and quoted from the resolution saying, people of good faith can and do differ on the subject of the definition of marriage. Sasha Aslanian, Minnesota Public Radio News.