Print
Oct 25, 2006 2:49 pm US/Eastern
N.J. Court Decision On Gay Marriage Due Today
Click here to monitor the court's decision from the N.J. Courts Online website.
by Magee Hickey
TRENTON (CBS) ―
A decision is due Wednesday from New Jersey's highest court on the issue of gay marriage. And no matter what the ruling, there will be elation and outrage.
Tens of thousands of people are on the edges of their seats in New Jersey Wednesday, according to activists on both sides of the issue.
They're worrying about which way the New Jersey supreme court will rule on their long-awaited decision on whether the state constitution gives same-sex couples the right to marry.
"Mark and I are very much in love and want to show that commitment," said Dennis Winslow, who is suing for a same sex marriage in New Jersey.
The New Jersey case was brought in 2002 by seven same-sex couples that have been together for 14 to 35 years. They are asking the courts to allow gay couples the full legal right to marry.
Currently, Massachusetts is the only state in the country that recognizes a constitutional right to gay marriage.
The New Jersey case was argued before the state supreme court back in February, and it's not actually about whether same sex marriages should be legal. It is actually about who should make that decision -- the legislature or the courts.
Patrick Dealmeida, assistant U.S. attorney, told the court, "Marriage has been in existence for thousands of years and it has always been about mixed gender."
Gay marriage supporters have had a two-year losing streak, striking out in state courts in New York and Washington state, and in ballot boxes in 15 states where constitutions have been amended since 2004 to ban same sex unions.
Advocates for and against same-sex marriages are watching this case very closely, and many of those observers expect that gay marriage will be allowed in New Jersey.
Said one man in opposition to gay marriage, "This is not an issue of discrimination. It's an issue of lifestyle with these individuals wanting the right to marry."
The courts will post its decision on its Web site at 3 p.m. Wednesday, which is also Chief Justice Deborah Poritz's last day before reaching the mandatory retirement age of 70.
(© MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
