{"id":39251,"date":"2013-10-20T13:44:27","date_gmt":"2013-10-20T19:44:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2013\/10\/20\/new-jersey-supreme-court-on-gay-marriage.html"},"modified":"2014-11-05T14:05:28","modified_gmt":"2014-11-05T21:05:28","slug":"new-jersey-supreme-court-on-gay-marriage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2013\/10\/20\/new-jersey-supreme-court-on-gay-marriage.html","title":{"rendered":"New Jersey Supreme Court on gay marriage"},"content":{"rendered":"
Here are some excerpts from the ruling.<\/p>\n

What's interesting is something of a cascade effect. The court did not find the state had identified any harm from gay marriage, but it did find harm done to the state's plaintiffs — including a variety of state benefits, but, more notably, denial of federal<\/i> benefits due to the federal government relying on the states to define who is married for purposes of things like "family and medical leave, Medicare, tax and immigration matters, military and veterans\u2019 affairs, and other areas." \u00a0New Jersey does allow civil unions for gay couples, but …<\/p>\n

\u201c… partners in a civil union cannot … claim leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act if a partner becomes sick or is injured; they cannot get coverage for health benefits as a \u2018spouse\u2019 of a federal employee; and they cannot get certain Medicare benefits, including services in a skilled nursing facility for a spouse. […] Unlike same-sex married couples, civil-union partners also cannot file a joint federal tax return; they cannot be considered a \u2018spouse\u2019 for immigration purposes; and they cannot participate in a Survivor Benefit Plan as a spouse of an active or retired member of the military. All of these and other examples affect not only partners to a civil union but also their children.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

It's a brilliant argument, it seems to me, and, honestly, an accurate one. \u00a0The New Jersey state constitution promises equal protection under the law (as most state constitutions do), and the state's disallowal of gays being able to marry is responsible for their not being treated equally, without forcefully demonstrating "how it is tangibly or actually harmed by allowing same-sex couples to marry."<\/p>\n

It's a linkage between state and federal rights that hasn't been discussed much before, at least in articles I've read on the topic. \u00a0It belies the argument made in the past that, just because the federal government recognizes gay marriage (or recognizes the rights of states to allow such a thing), it doesn't compel any state<\/i> to do so — essentially, it's not the federal position\u00a0compelling the state, but the state compelling itself because of the federal position.<\/p>\n

It's a position I think we'll see made \u00a0in a lot of other places beyond New Jersey.<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

\n \n <\/div>\n

Read excerpts from the same-sex marriage decision by the N.J. Supreme Court<\/a>
\n Here are key sections of today’s historic state Supreme Court decision allowing gay marriages to begin on Monday, Oct. 21\n <\/p>\n

View this post on Google+<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here are some excerpts from the ruling. What's interesting is something of a cascade effect. The court did not find the state had identified any harm from gay marriage, but it did find harm done to the state's plaintiffs — including a variety of state benefits, but, more notably, denial of federal benefits due to … Continue reading “New Jersey Supreme Court on gay marriage”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[106,718],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39251","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-plusposts","category-marriage-equality"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5479,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2004\/03\/04\/if_it_walks_dow.html","url_meta":{"origin":39251,"position":0},"title":"If it walks down the aisle like a duck …","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 4-Mar-04 10:12am","format":false,"excerpt":"John Kerry has (maybe) backed making state gay civil unions functionally equivalent to marriage as far as federal rights and benefits are concerned. \"It's the first time in history that...","rel":"","context":"In "Elections 2004"","block_context":{"text":"Elections 2004","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/politics-law\/elections-2004"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":15157,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2009\/07\/09\/go-massachusetts-go.html","url_meta":{"origin":39251,"position":1},"title":"Go, Massachusetts, Go!","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 9-Jul-09 11:20am","format":false,"excerpt":"The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is suing the Federal Government over the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). The federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) interferes with the right of Massachusetts to define and regulate marriage as it sees fit, Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley said. The 1996 law denies federal\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "LGBTQ &c"","block_context":{"text":"LGBTQ &c","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/gay-stuff"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":44673,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2014\/08\/28\/marriage-isnt-a-right-its-a-way-to-control-heterosexuals.html","url_meta":{"origin":39251,"position":2},"title":"Marriage isn't a right, it's a way to control heterosexuals","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 28-Aug-14 8:41am","format":false,"excerpt":"That seems to be the core argument made by\u00a0Indiana Solicitor General Thomas Fisher before the 7th Circuit. Sure, marriage comes with all sorts of societal and legal benefits, but the state isn't required to extend it to gays because, well, gay couples can already adopt in Indiana, and, those benefits\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":26640,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2012\/02\/23\/santorum-opposes-civil-unions-suggests-enriching-lawyers-instead.html","url_meta":{"origin":39251,"position":3},"title":"Santorum opposes civil unions, suggests enriching lawyers instead","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 23-Feb-12 9:48am","format":false,"excerpt":"Rick Santorum trots out the hoary \"Well, with a good lawyer and some contracts, gays who want to hang out together, no matter how disgusting I find that, can do everything that married couples can do, so why give them any societal recognition?\" excuse against marriage equality or even civil\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":37892,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2013\/06\/26\/scotus-and-doma-and-prop-8-oh-my.html","url_meta":{"origin":39251,"position":4},"title":"SCOTUS and DoMA and Prop 8 (Oh, My!)","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 26-Jun-13 2:05pm","format":false,"excerpt":"I have a lot to say about this (beyond the lengthy rewtweeting), and will say it anon ... but for the moment, let me just say that I am overall pleased with both rulings, and gobsmacked \/ wildly amused by the IT'S THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":43250,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2014\/06\/25\/utahs-gay-marriage-ban-is-struck-down.html","url_meta":{"origin":39251,"position":5},"title":"Utah’s gay marriage ban is struck down","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 25-Jun-14 2:41pm","format":false,"excerpt":"This is another one that may end up with SCOTUS, unless they decide to just let these rulings stand, but it coming from a federal appeals court lends it extra oomph. The key here is that the 10th Circuit includes Colorado, which may mean my own state's shameful constitutional ban\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39251","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39251"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39251\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46527,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39251\/revisions\/46527"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39251"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39251"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39251"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}