New York State Court of Appeals to Hear Same-Sex Marriage Cases - NYTimes.com

Well looks like our case is moving to the high court here we go again.


New York State Court of Appeals to Hear Same-Sex Marriage Cases - NYTimes.com

By JEREMY W. PETERS
Published: March 31, 2009

ALBANY — The state’s highest court agreed on Tuesday to hear arguments in two cases that challenge New York’s recognition of same-sex marriages legally performed elsewhere.

Times Topics: Same-Sex Marriage, Civil Unions, and Domestic Partnerships

Lower courts have already sided with two government entities that revised their policies to honor the marriages, but those decisions were appealed by the Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian group that is waging multiple legal battles in New York to stop state and local entities from recognizing marriages of same-sex couples who were wed in places, like Massachusetts and Canada, where the ceremony is legal.

Neither case involved Gov. David A. Paterson’s directive last May that ordered state agencies to recognize legal same-sex marriages performed outside New York State.

One case, Godfrey v. Spano, stems from the Westchester County executive’s 2006 decision to begin officially honoring out-of-state marriage licenses for gay couples the same way it did for heterosexual couples.

The other case, Lewis v. New York State Department of Civil Service, was filed after the department agreed in 2007 to begin recognizing out-of-state, same-sex marriages for the purpose of extending health insurance to spouses of public employees.

Brian Raum, senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, said Tuesday that the group believed that the Court of Appeals would reverse the lower courts in both cases.

“We’re confident that we’re on the right side of the law,” he said. “The law in New York states it will not recognize marriages that conflict with public policy in New York. Since New York only recognizes marriage between one man and one woman, for any court to recognize same-sex marriage would be to recognize marriages that run contrary to New York law.”

Susan Sommer, senior counsel from Lambda Legal, a gay rights group that is representing Westchester County and the civil service department, said she had hoped the court would decide not to hear the cases, but added that she was optimistic it would not rule against same-sex couples.

“I think the rulings in the lower courts were correct and consistent with all the other prevailing decisions in the state,” she said. “I’m looking forward to making the same arguments to the high court so we can ask it to affirm those same arguments that have prevailed in all other cases.”