It isn't like me to post two diaries back-to-back; with all the free time I suddenly have though I'm given more opportunities to browse the news. And unlike my prior diary, this diary is a happy one.
New Jersey Superior Court Justice Mary Jacobson who, on September 27, ordered the state to begin issuing marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples as of October 21 has denied a request to stay her order that was submitted by so-called "moderate" Republican Governor Chris Christie.
More below the orange squiggle/croissant or whatever you like to call it.
To summarize:
The state cited all sorts of horrible calamities that might result from Judge Jacobson's order taking effect a bit less than two weeks from today. First was "irreparable harm" to the state. Judge Jacobson wasn't having any of it. She noted that no actual harm exists since her order didn't actually overturn any statute; couples can still obtain civil unions if they want to. Those couples who cannot marry on the other hand suffer real and tangible harm every day they are prevented from getting married, since all of the federal benefits that have clearly been made obtainable after DOMA was struck down apply only to couples whose marriages were obtained in or are recognized as such by the state where they live. Crossing the Hudson River to marry in Manhattan would not provide those benefits since NJ's civil union law would view such marriages as civil unions.
The state also failed to demonstrate that it was likely to prevail upon appeal. In fact, given the way Lewis vs Harris, the New Jersey Supreme Court 2006 decision requiring the state to provide "all the benefits and responsibilities of marriage" to same-sex couples was worded. There isn't any conceivable way, in the light of Windsor that civil unions provide all of the benefits obtainable through marriage. There was no issue at the time that case was decided since DOMA was still the law. With DOMA gone it's not conceivable that Lewis could be construed to permit a status short of marriage.
There are other observations in the decision, which you can read through the link in my opening paragraph. Suffice to say that Christie's had his butt handed to him on this one. No doubt Christie will be appealing this as well, though it's tough to see on what grounds me might prevail given the rather straight-forward nature of the case and the fact that New Jersey's rules regarding the granting of stays are a bit tougher than the corresponding federal rules. Given the rest of the day's news, it's nice to see something positive.