Angry New Yorker

Semi-Daily Rants from New York City's Angry Man

"As I know more of mankind I expect less of them, and am ready now to call a man a good man, upon easier terms than I was formerly." - Dr. Samuel Johnson, Boswell, Life of Johnson, Sept. 1783

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Friday, February 04, 2005
 
Gay Marriage Coming to New York State? Strap In. New York City's Activist Judges Are At It Again.

And the democrats scratch their heads and wonder why republicans and conservatists don't trust the judiciary, particularly in New York City, where activist judges like Doris Ling-Cohan, who seems to enjoy issuing controversial decisions every few months, and is closely aligned with Dennis Rivera, unions and immigrants, have no qualms about stretching the law to reach their desired result.

Here's the New York State Constitution. You tell me where there's a right to same-sex marriage in it. In fact, Article I, the NY State Constitution's Bill of Rights, in section 11 states:

[Equal protection of laws; discrimination in civil rights prohibited]
ยง11. No person shall be denied the equal protection of the laws of this state or any subdivision thereof. No person shall, because of race, color, creed or religion, be subjected to any discrimination in his or her civil rights by any other person or by any firm, corporation, or institution, or by the state or any agency or subdivision of the state. (New. Adopted by Constitutional Convention of 1938 and approved by vote of the people November 8, 1938; amended by vote of the people November 7, 2001.)
Notice the Constitution says nothing about sexual orientation? Funny that, eh? And accepted rules of construction would not allow a reading in of sexual orientation. We'll be very interested to fisk Judge Ling-Cohan's opinion.

From today's NY1. com:

State Supreme Court Judge Clears Way For Same-Sex Marriages
FEBRUARY 04TH, 2005

A State Supreme Court Judge has made an historic ruling, clearing the way for five-same sex couples to marry. The couples filed a lawsuit last year, seeking marriage licenses in New York State. In a city courtroom Friday, Judge Doris Ling-Cohan ruled that the State Constitution requires same-sex couples to have equal access to marriage. The judge also ruled that the couples, who were represented by Lambda Legal, must be given marriage licenses.
UPDATE: As soon as we get a copy of the decision we'll analyze it and report back

UPDATE II: The New York Times reports today, here, that the city will appeal the decision.

posted by anonymous at 2:29 PM

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