Patrick Weighs in on Gay Marriage Vote

Just hours before lawmakers face their final chance to act on a proposed constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage, Governor-Elect Deval Patrick is urging lawmakers not to vote to place the measure on the ballot.

Patrick says he believes it is a terrible precedent to use the ballot initiative petition to insert discrimination into the constitution. He says if the legislature must adjourn before taking a vote, in order to kill the petition, than it should.

In an opinion announced last week, the state's highest court said legislators have a duty to vote, but the Supreme Judicial Court acknowledged that it could not force a vote.

If the legislature does not act before midnight, then the measure is effectively dead.