-A couple celebrate at San Francisco City
Hall upon hearing about the U.S.
Supreme Court rulings on same-sex
marriage on Wednesday, June 26. The
high court cleared the way for same-sex
couples in California to resume
marrying after dismissing an appeal on
Proposition 8 on jurisdictional grounds.
In another ruling June 26, the justices
threw out part of a law that denied
hundreds of federal benefits to married
same-sex couples.
The New Jersey Supreme Court on Friday
denied the state's request to temporarily prevent same-
sex marriages, clearing the way for same-sex couples to
marry in the state starting Monday.
Gov. Chris Christie's administration appealed -- and
asked the court to delay -- a lower court's September
27 order that the state must allow same-sex couples to
marry beginning October 21, rather than give them the
label "civil union."
The appeal will be heard in January. But the state
Supreme Court on Friday declined to delay the
September order in the meantime, writing that "the
state has not shown a reasonable probability that it will
succeed on the merits" of the appeal.
"When a party presents a clear case of ongoing unequal
treatment, and asks the court to vindicate
constitutionally protected rights, a court may not
sidestep its obligation to rule for an indefinite amount
of time," the 20-page decision read. "Under those
circumstances, courts do not have the option to defer."
Among the arguments it rebutted, the high court said
the state failed to explain how it will "suffer irreparable
harm in a number of ways" as a result of the lower
court ruling.
"The State has presented no explanation for how it is
tangibly or actually harmed by allowing same-sex
couples to marry. It has not made a forceful showing of
irreparable harm," the decision read.
In an e-mailed statement to CNN, Christie's spokesman
Michael Drewniak said, "The Supreme Court has made
its determination. While the Governor firmly believes
that this determination should be made by all the
people of the State of New Jersey, he has instructed the
Department of Health to cooperate with all
municipalities in effectuating the order of the Superior
Court under the applicable law."
The state attorney's general's office didn't immediately
return a phone call seeking comment as of Friday
afternoon.
Some ceremonies already are planned for Monday. U.S.
Sen.-elect Cory Booker, the current Newark mayor,
plans to recognize the marriages of several same-sex
couples at 12:01 a.m.
Marriage-rights groups on both sides reacted strongly.
"It is extremely disappointing that the New Jersey
Supreme Court has allowed the ruling of an activist
judge to stand pending its appeal through the court
system," said Brian Brown, president of the National
Organization for Marriage, which opposes same-sex
marriage. "All in all, today's ruling is another sad
chapter in watching our courts usurp the rights of
voters to determine issues like this for themselves."
But Troy Stevenson, executive director of gay-rights
group Garden State Equality, said the high court's
decision means "the door is open for love, commitment
and equality under the law."
"This is a huge victory for New Jersey's same-sex
couples and their families." added Hayley Gorenberg,
deputy legal director of gay rights group Lambda Legal
and the organization's lead attorney on the case. "Take
out the champagne glasses -- wedding bells will soon be
ringing in New Jersey!"
In the September ruling, Judge Mary Jacobson of Mercer
County Superior Court argued that civil unions, which
the state already allows same-sex couples, don't go far
enough because they, in some cases, illegally prevent
them from getting federal benefits.
Her ruling cited the U.S. Supreme Court's June rejection
of part of the federal Defense of Marriage Act, a move
that ensured same-sex spouses legally married in a
state may receive federal benefits.
After the DOMA ruling, some federal agencies are
extending benefits to legally married same-sex couples,
but denying them to same-sex couples in "civil unions,"
Jacobson wrote.
"If the trend of federal agencies deeming civil union
partners ineligible for benefits continues, plaintiffs will
suffer even more, while their opposite-sex New Jersey
counterparts continue to receive federal marital
benefits for no reason other than the label placed upon
their relationship by the state," Jacobson wrote.
"This unequal treatment requires that New Jersey
extend civil marriage to same-sex couples to satisfy the
equal protection guarantees of the New Jersey
Constitution," she continued.
Jacobson ruled on a lawsuit filed aggainst the state by
six same-sex couples and their children, as well as
Garden State Equality.
Her ruling came more than a year after Christie vetoed
a bill that would have legalized same-sex marriage in
the state.
New Jersey has recognized civil unions between same-
sex couples since 2007, after the New Jersey Supreme
Court ruled that the state must allow same-sex couples
all the rights and benefits of marriage. As far as state
rights and benefits went, civil unions and marriages
differed only in label, Jacobson noted.
New Jersey is one of four states that offer civil unions,
but not marriage, to same-sex couples. The others are
Colorado, Hawaii and Illinois.
Same-sex marriage is legal in 13 U.S states -- California,
Connecticut, Delaware, Iowa, Maine, Maryland,
Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York,
Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington -- as well as the
District of Columbia.
Same-sex marriage is banned in every state not
mentioned above, except for New Mexico, which has
no laws banning or allowing it.
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