New Jersey Supreme Court recognizes same-sex unions
The New Jersey Supreme Court has ruled that state
lawmakers must provide the rights and benefits of marriage to gay and lesbian
couples.
The New Jersey Supreme Court has ruled that state lawmakers must provide the rights and benefits of marriage to gay and lesbian couples.
The high court on Wednesday gave legislators six months to either change state marriage laws to include same-sex couples, or come up with another mechanism, such as civil unions, that would provide the same protections and benefits.
The court’s vote was 4-to-3. But the ruling was more strongly in favor of same-sex marriage than that split would indicate. The three dissenting justices argued the court should have extended full marriage rights to homosexuals, without kicking the issue back to legislators.
The decision mirrors the one made in 1999 by Vermont’s highest court, which prompted its legislature to create civil unions for same-sex couples, with the same rights and benefits enjoyed by heterosexuals.
The New Jersey high court held that state laws prohibiting gay and lesbian couples from receiving the “financial and social benefits and privileges” of marriage violate the equal protection clause of the New Jersey Constitution and served no “legitimate governmental purpose.”
The biggest problem this decision faces is that the issue is now handed back to politicians for possible resolution. Anyone else old enough to remember when you could expect leadership — instead of opportunism and reaction — from politicians on a controversial issue?
Posted: Thu - October 26, 2006 at 07:12 AM