In the Historic Lawsuit Seeking Marriage Equality for Gay and Lesbian Couples in New Jersey, Lambda Legal Responds Today to the State's Move to Dismiss the Case

(Trenton, Friday, May 9, 2003) In a 52-page document citing dozens of New Jersey Supreme Court decisions throughout the past five decades – as well as the text of the New Jersey Constitution itself – Lambda Legal today responded to the State’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit seeking to respect the right of lesbian and couples in New Jersey to marry.

Today’s response by Lambda Legal, the national civil rights organization representing the seven lesbian and gay couples in the historic lawsuit, Lewis et. al. v. Harris et. al., details how the state’s statutory barrier to marriage for lesbian and gay couples violates the rights to privacy and equal protection in the New Jersey Constitution.

In its response, Lambda Legal states that New Jersey statutes, such as those restricting marriage to the union between a man and a woman, “must comply with the dictates of the New Jersey Constitution, and it is the proper role of the courts to ensure that they do.”

The lawsuit, filed last June, is now before the Superior Court in Mercer County, New Jersey. No state in the United States currently allows lesbian and gay couples to marry. Vermont allows lesbian and gay couples to enter Civil Unions.

The complete document is available online. Lambda Legal lawyers are available for interviews.

Here are quotes from New Jersey Supreme Court decisions that Lambda Legal included in its response today:

“We can only reiterate that decisions such as whether to marry are of a highly personal nature; they neither lend themselves to official coercion or sanction, nor fall within the regulatory power of those who are elected to govern.” Saunders, 75 N.J. at 219. [T]he New Jersey Constitution of 1947 “in a broader way than ever before in American constitutional history” expresses ideals of liberty that include the guarantees of the fundamental right to marry and to equal protection. Right to Choose v. Byrne, 91 N.J. 287,303 (1982).

“New Jersey has always been in the vanguard in the fight to eradicate the cancer of unlawful discrimination of all types from our society.” Peper v. Princeton Univ. Board of Trustees, 77 N.J. 55, 80 (1978).

“While the law may look to the past for the lessons it teaches, it must be geared to the present and towards the future if it is to serve the people in just and proper fashion.” Paterson Tavern & Grill Owners Assn. v. Borough of Hawthorne, 57 N.J. 180, 189 (1970)

“The principle of gender neutrality is evident in the laws as administered by the courts of New Jersey and throughout the legal system.” Gubernat v. Deremer, 140 N.J. 137 (1995).

“Modern marriage is a partnership,” Jersey Shore Medical Center-Fitkin Hosp. v. Estate of Baum, 84 N.J. 147 (1980), in which “the parties to the marriage . . . are individuals entitled to seek their personal happiness according to their own lights.” Merenoff v. Merenoff, 76 N.J. 552 (1978).

Lambda Legal is the nation’s oldest and largest legal organization dedicated to the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgendered people and people with HIV or AIDS. In addition to its New York headquarters, Lambda Legal has regional offices in Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta and Dallas.

Contact: Steven Goldstein, 917-449-8918