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Showing posts with label New Jersey. Show all posts
Showing posts with label New Jersey. Show all posts
Thursday, December 26, 2013
Posted in: Wednesday, November 13, 2013
Hawaii 15th State to Allow Same-Sex Marriage
Hawaii now joins 14 other states to legalize same-sex marriage. Just last month, it was the New Jersey Supreme Court adding their state, at least temporarily, to the growing list of states recognizing gay nuptials. Illinois will become the 16th state later this month at a ceremony where the now-passed legislation will be formally signed by the Governor.
In the case of Hawaii, their Supreme Court ruled back in 1993 that a guarantee of legal equality could eventually lead to legalized gay marriage. Largely due to the manner in which that High Court's ruling came down, it never developed any legal traction and was effectively overruled in 1998 by that state's voter initiative amending their state constitution to restrict legal marriage to opposite-gender couples.
Many of our readers will recognize this Pacific constitutional amendment as the precursor to the federal Defense of Marriage Act [DOMA] -marriage is legal as only between a man and a woman- recently struck down by the SCOTUS. Legal scholars have suggested that DOMA was a federal legislative reaction to the surprising initial same-sex decision by the Hawaiian Supreme Court; the first such ruling in the coutry.
Like racial equality and gender equity, this ground is not easily gained. There is nothing like a civil rights struggle to demonstrate the evolution of our federalist system of government.
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Saturday, October 19, 2013
New Jersey Supreme Court Allows Interim Same-Sex Marriages
Despite New Jersey Governor Chris Christie's recent veto of the NJ legislature's approval of same-sex marriage, the High Court of that state has unanimously rejected Governor Christie's attempt to temporarily stay the application of a recent court ruling that overrode Christie's veto. Consequently, same-sex marriage licenses will be issued in New Jersey starting on Monday.
We are seeing county judges getting more active in this civil rights movement. In Jersey, for example, at least one judge, with many more in the wings, declared Governor Christies' veto unconstitutional in light of the SCOTUS Windsor decision.
Governor Christie applied to the NJ Supreme Court to stay the legality of any same-sex marriage until that Court decides case on its merits in January. If the unanimous 7-0 decision is any indication, it would appear that the New Jersey will become the 14th state in the union to allow same-sex marriages.
In a classic compromise indicative of his aspirations to occupy the White House, Governor Christie publicly approves civil unions, legal in New Jersey since 2007. Gay couples roundly reject such middle ground, however, viewing such status as the modern equivalent to our national experiment with "separate but equal" legislation in the mid-20th Century.
We here at the Law Blogger view this issue as the civil rights issue of our era and will be tracking the issue throughout the nation. In the process, it provides interesting insight into the machinery of our government and judiciary.
www.clarkstonlegal.com
info@clarkstonlegal.com
Thursday, October 10, 2013
Keep Evolving, New Jersey!
Looks like the limited monogamous same-gender freedom to marry is coming to New Jersey on October 21! A ruling made on September 27 was not stayed by a court. So, congrats to all of our LGBT friends in NJ who will now be free to marry in their home state.Along with Rhode Island, New Jersey currently has the most potential to keep evolving towards full marriage equality under the law, which is vital because no adult should be denied her or his fundamental right to marry the person or persons she or he loves.
Keep Evolving, New Jersey!
Looks like the limited monogamous same-gender freedom to marry is coming to New Jersey on October 21! A ruling made on September 27 was not stayed by a court. So, congrats to all of our LGBT friends in NJ who will now be free to marry in their home state.Along with Rhode Island, New Jersey currently has the most potential to keep evolving towards full marriage equality under the law, which is vital because no adult should be denied her or his fundamental right to marry the person or persons she or he loves.
