N.J. Attorney General Opposes Rush To Legalize Same-Sex Marriage

Judge Mary Jacobson

The New Jersey Law Journal Editorial Board recently urged Governor Chris Christie to withdraw his veto of the same-sex marriage bill passed by the legislature because it now blocks federal benefits for Jerseyans who have entered civil unions.  The New Jersey Supreme Court in 2006 mandated that civil unions be equal in all respects to marriage. But the plaintiffs in Garden State Equality v. Dow argue that cannot be accomplished without legalizing say sex marriage.  Their position is strengthened by the Windsor case which compels equal federal benefits for same sex married couples but does not reach those in civil unions.
Attorney General Opposes Rush To Legalize Same-Sex Marriage: NJLJ

Gov. Chris Christie's administration is urging judicial restraint in gauging the effect in New Jersey of the U.S. Supreme Court's partial voiding of the Defense of Marriage Act. [Mary Jacobson], a Mercer County [Superior Court] judge is soon to hear a motion for summary judgment declaring that the June 26 ruling in Windsor v. U.S., 133 S. Ct. 2675 — requiring that the full range of federal benefits enjoyed by heterosexual married couples be accorded to same-sex couples under the Fourteenth Amendment — necessitates legalizing gay marriage. In a brief filed Aug. 2, Deputy Attorney General Jean Reilly argues that advocates for that result are giving an "incorrect" and "stilted" reading to Windsor. She says it means only that same-sex couples — by virtue of marriage or civil unions — cannot be denied federal benefits.

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