New York Justices Weigh Gay marriages
by Doug Windsor, 365Gay.com New York Bureau
May 31, 2006 - 5:00 pm ET. Copyright by The Wedding Party
(Albany, New York) New York State's highest court was told Wednesday that denying same-sex couples the right to marry is not only unconstitutional it is cruel.
In an omnibus case involving four different lawsuits the Court of Appeals did not indicate when it would issue a ruling on whether gay and lesbian couples will be allowed to marry in the Empire State.
Only six justices were on the bench to hear the combined cases today. Justice Albert M. Rosenblatt, considered by many a swing vote, recused himself.
In lower courts judges in three of the cases upheld the current ban on same-sex marriage. In the fourth, New York City judge Doris Ling-Cohan ruled that the New York State Constitution guarantees basic freedoms to lesbian and gay people, and that those rights are violated when same-sex couples are not allowed to marry. That ruling was overturned in a midlevel appeals court.
"Lesbians and gay people who fall in love, make commitments to each other, and raise children together deserve to have all of the protections that married New Yorkers take for granted," said Roberta Kaplan who argued on behalf of the ACLU and its clients.
"Today is an historic day for same-sex couples and their families in New York," said Lambda attorney Susan Sommer who was the first to present arguments today before the court.
"Our bottom line here is that if there are going to be changes, they're going to be done by the Legislature," said Peter Schiff, senior counsel with the attorney general's office. New York City's lawyer, Leonard Koerner, told the court that even if gay marriage were constitutional, it's not the court's role to implement it.
Judge George Bundy Smith appeared to agree asking lawyers on both sides numerous times why the issue had been brought to the court. "Why isn't this a legislative matter?"
Many of the more than 40 same-sex couples involved in the case were at court today in Albany.
"In 1966, my parents couldn’t get married in many states because my father is black and my mother is white; in 2006, I hope to marry my partner,” said Curtis Woolbright, who along with his partner, Daniel Reyes, is one of the couples seeking the right to marry.
"Should Daniel and I be privileged to have our own children, we hope that they will be able to one day look back with the same shock and astonishment that I felt when my parents told me that there was a time in our country when two people who loved each other and wanted nothing more than to spend the rest of their lives together and make a family together were denied that right in many states.”
A poll released last month showed that a majority of people across New York State support same-sex marriage.
The case is one of three in state supreme courts.
Arguments in New Jersey were heard in February.
The justices peppered attorneys on both sides of the argument about the legal implications of opening up gay marriage, and whether the court or the legislature was the best venue to decide the issue.
In the state of Washington the wait for a ruling on gay marriage has turned into a marathon.
Arguments challenging the state's ban on same-sex marriage, the so-called Defense of Marriage Act, were made before the Washington Supreme Court in March 2005.
Several lawsuits seeking marriage rights are working their way through the California court system and it is expected they will reach the state Supreme Court next year.
The only state where same-sex marriage currently legal is Massachusetts. Gay and lesbian couples there began marrying in May 2004 after that state's high court ruled the ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional.
Meanwhile, as the marriage issue is fought on the state level the Senate next week will take up a proposed amendment to the US Constitution that would ban same-sex marriage. Just before the Senate votes President Bush is expected to make an appeal for the measure's passage in a Rose Garden speech.
©365Gay.com 2006
May 31, 2006 - 5:00 pm ET. Copyright by The Wedding Party
(Albany, New York) New York State's highest court was told Wednesday that denying same-sex couples the right to marry is not only unconstitutional it is cruel.
In an omnibus case involving four different lawsuits the Court of Appeals did not indicate when it would issue a ruling on whether gay and lesbian couples will be allowed to marry in the Empire State.
Only six justices were on the bench to hear the combined cases today. Justice Albert M. Rosenblatt, considered by many a swing vote, recused himself.
In lower courts judges in three of the cases upheld the current ban on same-sex marriage. In the fourth, New York City judge Doris Ling-Cohan ruled that the New York State Constitution guarantees basic freedoms to lesbian and gay people, and that those rights are violated when same-sex couples are not allowed to marry. That ruling was overturned in a midlevel appeals court.
"Lesbians and gay people who fall in love, make commitments to each other, and raise children together deserve to have all of the protections that married New Yorkers take for granted," said Roberta Kaplan who argued on behalf of the ACLU and its clients.
"Today is an historic day for same-sex couples and their families in New York," said Lambda attorney Susan Sommer who was the first to present arguments today before the court.
"Our bottom line here is that if there are going to be changes, they're going to be done by the Legislature," said Peter Schiff, senior counsel with the attorney general's office. New York City's lawyer, Leonard Koerner, told the court that even if gay marriage were constitutional, it's not the court's role to implement it.
Judge George Bundy Smith appeared to agree asking lawyers on both sides numerous times why the issue had been brought to the court. "Why isn't this a legislative matter?"
Many of the more than 40 same-sex couples involved in the case were at court today in Albany.
"In 1966, my parents couldn’t get married in many states because my father is black and my mother is white; in 2006, I hope to marry my partner,” said Curtis Woolbright, who along with his partner, Daniel Reyes, is one of the couples seeking the right to marry.
"Should Daniel and I be privileged to have our own children, we hope that they will be able to one day look back with the same shock and astonishment that I felt when my parents told me that there was a time in our country when two people who loved each other and wanted nothing more than to spend the rest of their lives together and make a family together were denied that right in many states.”
A poll released last month showed that a majority of people across New York State support same-sex marriage.
The case is one of three in state supreme courts.
Arguments in New Jersey were heard in February.
The justices peppered attorneys on both sides of the argument about the legal implications of opening up gay marriage, and whether the court or the legislature was the best venue to decide the issue.
In the state of Washington the wait for a ruling on gay marriage has turned into a marathon.
Arguments challenging the state's ban on same-sex marriage, the so-called Defense of Marriage Act, were made before the Washington Supreme Court in March 2005.
Several lawsuits seeking marriage rights are working their way through the California court system and it is expected they will reach the state Supreme Court next year.
The only state where same-sex marriage currently legal is Massachusetts. Gay and lesbian couples there began marrying in May 2004 after that state's high court ruled the ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional.
Meanwhile, as the marriage issue is fought on the state level the Senate next week will take up a proposed amendment to the US Constitution that would ban same-sex marriage. Just before the Senate votes President Bush is expected to make an appeal for the measure's passage in a Rose Garden speech.
©365Gay.com 2006
posted by Carlos T Mock at 8:13 PM
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