Garden State Equality v. Dow
| Garden State Equality v. Dow | |
|---|---|
| Court | New Jersey Superior Court |
| Full case name | Garden State Equality et al. v. Paula Dow acting in her official capacity as Attorney General of New Jersey et al. |
| Decided | September 27, 2013 |
| Citation(s) | 82 A. 3d 336 - NJ: Superior Court, Law Div. 2013 |
| Case history | |
| Subsequent action(s) | Defendants' motion to stay the trial court's order, denied (79 A. 3d 1036 - NJ: Supreme Court 2013) |
| Court membership | |
| Judge(s) sitting | Superior Court Judge Mary Jacobson |
Garden State Equality v. Dow (82 A. 3d 336 - NJ: Superior Court, Law Div. 2013) is a New Jersey Superior Court case that held on September 27, 2013, that the New Jersey's marriage laws violated the rights of same-sex couples to equal protection of the law under the New Jersey State Constitution. The trial court and a State Appellate Court refused the State's request for a stay of the trial court's decision, and the New Jersey Supreme Court refused to do so on a 7-0 vote. The ruling took effect on October 21, 2013; and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie dropped the State's plans to appeal that same day, ending the denial of marriage rights to same-sex couples in New Jersey.
On June 29, 2011, Lambda Legal filed suit in the Law Division of Superior Court in Mercer County on behalf Garden State Equality, seven same-sex couples, and several of their children, arguing that New Jersey's civil unions did not provide the same rights as marriage as required by the court's decision in Lewis v. Harris (2006). The named defendant was Paula Dow, in her official capacity at the time as the Attorney General of New Jersey.
Superior Court Judge Linda Feinberg initially dismissed the plaintiffs' claim that their federal equal protection rights were violated when they were denied marriage licenses, but later reinstated it for consideration by the trial court. On July 3, 2013, the plaintiffs filed a motion for summary judgment, arguing that the U.S. Supreme Court's June 26 decision in United States v. Windsor meant that civil unions are not equivalent to marriage because same-sex couples in civil unions do not have access to the same federal benefits available to married couples. A hearing on the motion was held on August 15, 2013.
On September 27, 2013, Mary C. Jacobson, Assignment Judge of the Mercer Vicinage of the Superior Court, ruled that the state must allow same-sex couples to marry. The effective date of her order was October 21.
...
Wikipedia