New Jersey Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Marriage Case

Today the New Jersey Supreme Court announced it would hear both the merits of the marriage case as well as the appeal on the stay motion.

Hayley Gorenberg, Deputy Legal Director of Lambda Legal, said:

Time is of the essence and it's great the court is moving so quickly. We are looking forward to making our case at the New Jersey Supreme Court for the families in New Jersey who need marriage to better protect their families.

In June 2011, Lambda Legal filed a lawsuit seeking the freedom to marry, arguing that barring same-sex couples from marriage and relegating them to civil union violates both the New Jersey Constitution and the Fourteenth Amendment of the federal Constitution. This June, the Supreme Court struck down Section 3 of DOMA, and Lambda Legal filed a motion for summary judgment in the New Jersey case, arguing that by barring marriage, the state of New Jersey now denies same-sex couples the full range of federal benefits, rights, and protections available after the Windsor decision. Just last Friday, on September 27, 2013, the New Jersey Superior Court ruled that same-sex couples in New Jersey must be allowed to marry. Unless it is stayed pending appeal, the decision takes effect on October 21.

Read the order.

Learn more about the case, Garden State Equality v. Dow, and meet all the plaintiffs and their families.

Read the press release.