COUPLES SEEK REVERSAL OF N.J. GAY MARRIAGE RULING: From The Times (Trenton)

New Jersey would become the second state in the country to permit gays and lesbians to marry if a lawyer representing seven homosexual couples persuades a panel of appeals court judges to overturn a lower court ruling tomorrow morning. ...

At issue is a Nov. 5, 2003, ruling by Mercer County Superior Court Judge Linda R. Feinberg that gays and lesbians do not have the right to marry. The judge rejected arguments by the plaintiffs' attorneys that the refusal of town clerks to issue marriage licenses to the couples violates rights guaranteed by the state constitution. ...

Many of the arguments offered during the lower court case are expected to resurface tomorrow, with Buckel likely to argue that denying marriage licenses to his clients runs roughshod over their state rights to privacy and equal protection. DeAlmeida is expected to argue that the power to define marriage rests with the Legislature, not the courts. ...

DeAlmeida said he will point out that since Feinberg issued her ruling in 2003, the Legislature has provided plaintiffs much of the relief they sought when it adopted the landmark New Jersey Domestic Partnership Act.

As of Wednesday, 2,607 couples have registered as domestic partners, including 1,542 lesbian couples, 1,024 gay couples and 41 heterosexual couples over the age of 62, according to a Department of Health and Senior Services spokeswoman.

The domestic partnership law took effect in July and gives the couples numerous rights and benefits, including inheritance benefits, hospital visitation rights, a state income tax deduction for dependents and the right to make critical medical decisions for an incapacitated partner. ...

Buckel said he will mine a friend-of-the-court brief written by two matrimony lawyers who argue that the New Jersey Domestic Partnership Law falls woefully short. "The NJDPL provides only eight rights to same-sex couples and serves to promote the illusion that separate can be equal," attorneys Madeline Marzano-Lesnevich and Edward J. O'Donnell wrote in their brief. In contrast, state statutes "make over 850 references to various rights, obligations, privileges and benefits that come solely with marriage," they wrote.

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posted by Eve at 3:23 PM VOTE

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