Judge Says Suit to Void Marriage Act May Proceed

[alp227]

Source: NYT

Harshly criticizing Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo for the tactics he used to win approval of same-sex marriage, a state judge has ruled that a lawsuit challenging the enactment of New York’s Marriage Equality Act can proceed.

Acting Justice Robert B. Wiggins of State Supreme Court in Livingston County, in the Finger Lakes region, wrote that it was possible that the Republican majority in the State Senate had violated the state’s open meetings law as it discussed whether to bring the marriage bill to a vote.

His ruling offered a flash of hope for the conservative group that filed the lawsuit, New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms, which is asking the court to overturn the marriage law and nullify the weddings that have been performed under it.

The state attorney general, Eric T. Schneiderman, had sought the dismissal of the lawsuit. Justice Wiggins dismissed some elements of the case but said it could proceed on the open-meetings issue.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/30/nyregion/judge-says-lawsuit-against-gay-marriage-law-in-new-york-may-proceed.html

[xchrom]

1. ...

:mad:

[stevenleser]

2. Don't worry, this is a desperation hail mary pass with no receivers downfield.

They have no chance. They are just being jerks.

[efhmc]

8. Would you have thought California would have

voted to nullify their law?

[stevenleser]

12. This is a court case and the argument is so thin you can see right through it. nt

[Glorfindel]

3. "nullify the weddings that have been performed under it" ???

Wouldn't that be an ex-post facto law, which is forbidden by the U.S. Constitution? I think New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms needs to change its name.

[TheWraith]

10. Not quite. They'd effectively be saying that the law was invalid from the start.

And therefore that any weddings performed were equally invalid.

[BiggJawn]

4. "New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms" irony much?

Why is it that groups that want to deny marriage equality, or in other ways want to make Authoritarian laws that deny Rights to groups of people always having something about "Freedom" in their names?

[Ian David]

5. Nobody ever punishes Republicans when they break rules anyway. n/t

[SoapBox]

6. Grasping at the last "straws"?

...so what is this judge's background.

That will speak volumes about his views on this issue.

[TheWraith]

11. He's listed as a county court judge for Livingston County.

That means he's a Republican. (I live next door to Livingston County--no Democrats get elected county-wide there.) I'm not sure why he's listed as an acting justice for the State Supreme Court.

http://www.nycourtsystem.com/applications/judicialdirectory/Bio.php?ID=7030138

[RoccoR5955]

7. Another religious group trying to inflict their dogma on the rest of us.

I am sure that if this goes to the State Court of Appeals (which is higher than NY's Supreme Court) it will remain law.

[HockeyMom]

9. These religious groups infuriate me

not just from the standpoint of gay rights, but also from the perspective of MY OWN marriage. I don't want their RELIGION (God,sacred, holy, sacrament of matrimony) in MY marriage either. How is a CIVIL CONTRACT religious? What don't they understand about that?