MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Alabama’s attorney general is urging the U.S. Supreme Court to leave in place a lower court’s decision letting several states continue defining marriage as a union of a man and a woman.

Luther Strange filed a brief with the Supreme Court on Friday asking it to uphold an appeals court decision for cases in Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee.

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Strange argued in an amicus brief in favor of defining marriage as the union of a man and a woman. Amicus briefs are briefs filed by someone who is not directly involved in a case, but who has a strong interest in it.

He said the outcome of the cases being considered by the Supreme Court later this month will affect not just marriage laws but also other state policies.

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