Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller launched the sixth annual statewide March Against Hunger food drive competition today in Evansville.

The Tri-State Food Bank is one of 11 regional food banks in Indiana that partner with Feeding Indiana’s Hungry or FIsH – an organization which helps link Indiana’s resources to feed those in need. For the sixth consecutive year, the Indiana Attorney General’s Office has joined FIsH and the Indiana State Bar Association to help challenge law firms to donate goods and raise money for these banks.

“This friendly food-drive competition gives us an opportunity to highlight the struggles of food banks and those in need – particularly during this harsh winter when the costs of just heating your home have been significant,” Zoeller said. “It also shows how lawyers in our state step up to serve in time of need. We’re grateful for the partnerships with Feedings Indiana’s Hungry, local food banks and law groups which selflessly pull together each year to give back to the communities we serve.”

To sign up to participate in this year’s statewide competition visit www.marchagainsthunger.org or www.in.gov/attorneygeneral. Totals and winners will be announced shortly after the deadline to donate which is March 31.

In 2013, 52 law groups participated in March Against Hunger and raised 10,065 pounds of food and $55,455 – which is the equivalent of 287,340 pounds or 143 tons of food. Overall, the program has raised a total of 44,166 pounds of food and $182,622 for a total of 477 tons in assistance since 2009.

“We are so thankful for Attorney General Zoeller and the legal community for again championing our food banks’ work of serving those who need help providing enough food for their families,” said Emily Weikert Bryant, executive director of Feeding Indiana’s Hungry, Inc. “Our clients continue to struggle to make ends meet, and every bit of help to put food on their tables alleviates some of their uncertainties. We hope that more attorneys and firms will take a bit of time and effort to participate and to visit one of our food banks to see what we do to help our friends and neighbors in the community.”

This year the “Attorney General’s Cup” will be presented to the firm in each of the six categories that collects the most donations:

• Sole Proprietor
• Small firm (2-11 persons)
• Medium firm (12-21 persons)
• Large firm (22-49 persons)
• X-Large firm (50+ persons)
• Public/non-profit firm

Those not employed by a law firm can contribute nonperishable foods at a participating firm listed at www.in.gov/attorneygeneral or a FIsH food bank listed at www.feedingindianashungry.org.

By Lesley Weidenbener
TheStatehouseFile.com

INDIANAPOLIS – Four Hoosier couples are challenging the state’s marriage law, saying it’s unconstitutional for Indiana to refuse to marry same-sex couples or recognize gay unions from other states.

The lawsuit – filed in the U.S. District Court of Southern Indiana – says the state law violates the U.S. Constitution’s guarantees of equal protection and due process.

The suit is similar to one in Kentucky, in which a federal judge ruled that the commonwealth must recognize same-sex marriages performed in another state.

Attorney General Greg Zoeller said Friday that his office will defend the state’s marriage law. 

“As state government’s lawyer, I must defend the state’s authority to define marriage at the state level within Indiana’s borders,” Zoeller said in a statement. “People of goodwill have sincere differences of opinion on the marriage definition, but I hope Hoosiers can remain civil to each other as this legal question is litigated in the federal court.”

The lawsuit is unrelated to efforts by the General Assembly to put the state’s definition of marriage – the union of one man and one woman – into the Indiana Constitution. Lawmakers approved the proposed constitutional amendment this year but it needs approval from the General Assembly again in 2015 or 2016 to go on the ballot for ratification.

However, even if the amendment were in place now, it would not be a defense against the lawsuit. That’s because it’s filed in federal court and challenges the law for violating the U.S. Constitution.

The plaintiffs in the suit include two females who are engaged and want to marry in Indiana, two males who want to be married in Indiana, two females who married in Massachusetts in 2008, and two females who married in New York last year.

Their suit says that Indiana “has no rational, legitimate, or compelling state interest in treating same-sex couples any differently from opposite-sex couples.”

It also claims that marriage is a fundamental right and that the U.S. Constitution requires it to be recognized across states.

“Same-sex spouses who have entered into legal marriages in other jurisdictions have a reasonable expectation that they will continue to be protected by the rights and protections conferred by marriage when they relocate to another state,” the suit said.

Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a federal law defining marriage as the union of a man and a woman and left it up to states to make decisions about the definition of a legal marriage.

Since then, a district judge ruled that Kentucky must recognize marriages in other states. Also, a federal court has ruled that an amendment to the Oklahoma Constitution banning same-sex marriage violates the U.S. Constitution. That ruling came one week after a similar ruling was made on a same-sex marriage ban in Utah.

Zoeller’s office has defended the state’s marriage law against legal challenges in state court. And the Indiana Attorney General’s Office was one of the lead authors of two amicus briefs filed in the U.S. Supreme Court in support of other states’ laws defining marriage in a traditional way.

Lesley Weidenbener is executive editor of TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.