Lambda Legal Goes Back to Court in New Jersey

UPDATE: On March 22, the New Jersey Supreme Court granted Lambda Legal's motion to submit a brief that exceeds the Court's standard page limit, following our filing on March 18 to reactivate Lewis v. Harris, our suit for marriage equality. "The evidence we submitted to show civil union is unequal to marriage is overwhelming, and we're pleased that the Court has agreed to receive all of it," says Hayley Gorenberg, deputy legal director of Lambda Legal. "This is a first step forward. We await the briefing schedule set by the Court."

On March 18, 2010, Lambda Legal returned to the New Jersey Supreme Court to file a motion seeking marriage equality on behalf of the plaintiffs in the original Lewis v. Harris lawsuit.

"The New Jersey Supreme Court ordered equality for same-sex couples when it decided our marriage lawsuit in 2006, and the legislature has failed to meet that crystal-clear obligation," said Lambda Legal Deputy Legal Director Hayley Gorenberg. "Civil unions are a failed legislative experiment in providing equality—marriage equality is the only solution."

Lambda Legal filed Lewis v. Harris in June 2002 on behalf of seven same-sex couples seeking the right to marry. The New Jersey Supreme Court issued its ruling on October 25, 2006, unanimously agreeing that it is unconstitutional to give same-sex couples lesser rights than different-sex couples, but leaving the remedy to reach equality up to the legislature.

In January 2007 the New Jersey Legislature hastily enacted a civil union law. In December 2008 the Civil Union Review Commission, appointed by the legislature, issued its report documenting how civil unions fall short of the court-mandated equality for same-sex couples.

"Unfortunately Cindy has had to go to the emergency room both before we had a civil union and after,” says plaintiff Maureen Kilian about her partner, Cindy Meneghin. “The trips were 12 years apart and health care providers were just as confused about our relationship and what their legal obligations were to respect it each time. Our civil union didn't help. The fear and degradation were with us then and are still with us today."

In January 2010, following a hard-fought campaign led by Garden State Equality, the New Jersey Senate voted on and failed to pass a marriage equality law.

"With our kids watching, we have to explain that we are in a civil union with each other and that we are both parents of our daughters, which would never happen if we could just say 'we're married,'" say plaintiffs Sarah and Suyin Lael. “Those few words that everybody knows so well make an enormous difference—a difference our civil union has not made."

The case is Lewis v. Harris.