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(Albany, New York) The Court of Appeals, the
highest court in New York State, ruled Thursday that the state "Constitution
does not compel the recognition of marriages between members of the same
sex."
In a 4 - 2 decision, the court said that "Whether
such marriages should be recognized is a question to be addressed by the
Legislature."
The court heard arguments in
May in an omnibus case involving four different lawsuits
brought by 44 gay and lesbian couples.
Only six justices were on the
bench to hear the combined cases. 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.
Writing for the majority Justice Robert Smith said that the Domestic Relations Law, which governs marriage,
does not specifically say that only people of different sexes
may marry each other, but "that was the universal
understanding when Articles 2 and 3 were adopted in 1909, an
understanding reflected in several statutes."
The court also said that there
are "at least two grounds that rationally support the
limitation on marriage that the Legislature has
enacted." Two of those, the ruling said, involve
children.
"First, the Legislature
could rationally decide that, for the welfare of children, it
is more important to promote stability, and to avoid
instability, in opposite-sex than in same-sex
relationships.
"Heterosexual intercourse
has a natural tendency to lead to the birth of children;
homosexual intercourse does not."
The ruling also noted that the Legislature could
"rationally believe that it is better, other things being equal, for
children to grow up with both a mother and a father."
The justices said in the ruling
that the same-sex couples fighting for marriage equality
"have not persuaded us that this long accepted
restriction is a wholly irrational one, based solely on
ignorance and prejudice against homosexuals ... If we were
convinced that the restriction plaintiffs attack were founded
on nothing but prejudice - if we agreed with the plaintiffs
that it is comparable to the restriction in Loving v Virginia
a prohibition on interracial marriage that was plainly
'designed to maintain White Supremacy' -- we would hold it
invalid, no matter how long its history."
In a dissent, Chief Judge
Judith Kaye said the court failed to uphold its responsibility
to correct inequalities.
Kaye said that several bills
that would have permitted same-sex marriage have been
introduced in the Legislature over the past several years, but
none ever has made it out of committee.
"It is uniquely the
function of the Judicial Branch to safeguard individual
liberties guaranteed by the New York State Constitution, and
to order redress for their violation," she wrote.
"The court's duty to
protect constitutional rights is an imperative of the
separation of powers, not its enemy. I am confident that
future generations will look back on today's decision as an
unfortunate misstep."
A poll released in April showed
that a majority of people across New York State support
same-sex marriage.
Decisions in challenges to
state laws barring same-sex marriage are pending in two other
states.
Arguments in New Jersey were
heard in February. (story)
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 state Supreme
Court in March 2005. (story)
Meanwhile, in California, a mid
level appeals court will hear an omnibus same-sex marriage
case next week. That case is expected to reach the California
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.
©365Gay.com 2006
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