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New Jersey same-sex couples sue for equal marriage rights

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] New Jersey same-sex couples who previously sued for marriage equality filed suit again Thursday seeking to legalize same-sex marriage. The case is being brought on behalf of six couples and the surviving partner of a seventh by Lambda Legal. They filed a motion in the Supreme Court of New Jersey arguing that the decision handed down in 2002 in Lewis v. Harris, which said same-sex couples should have "full rights and benefits enjoyed by heterosexual married couples," is not being followed adequately with civil unions. The plaintiffs claim that they "and other committed lesbian gay partners in New Jersey live in second-class circumstances, relegated to demonstrably inferior, state-created status of civil unions." They argue that same-sex couples lack workplace benefits and protections, face unequal treatment and lack of recognition in public accommodations and civic life, and that their children are "prejudiced by the unequal and inferior legal and social status" of civil unions. In January, the New Jersey Senate voted 20-14 to defeat a bill that would have legalized same-sex marriage in the state. The Senate Judiciary Committee had voted 7-6 in favor of the bill in December, marking the first time that any body in the state legislature had approved same-sex marriage legislation. Same-sex marriage is currently legal in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Washington DC. New Jersey has recognized same-sex civil unions since 2006.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on March 18, 2010 (boomark / email).