New Jersey Appeals Court Rules 2-1 Against Marriage Equality for Same-Sex Couples, Moving Lambda Legal's Case to State Supreme Court for Final Ruling

(Trenton, June 14, 2005) – A New Jersey appeals court issued a 2-1 ruling today in favor of the state in Lambda Legal’s case seeking marriage equality for same-sex couples. The ruling clears the way for the case to move to the New Jersey Supreme Court for a final ruling.

“We are disappointed but not discouraged. We’ve always known that this case is headed for the New Jersey Supreme Court, and now we’re that much closer to the final word,” said David Buckel, Director of Lambda Legal’s Marriage Project and the lead attorney on the case. “In cases of this magnitude, much like our landmark victory in the U.S. Supreme Court striking down sodomy laws nationwide, losses at the lower court levels are typical and we have seen that the opinion of the dissenting judge often later becomes the law of the land.”

Judge Donald G. Collester, Jr. said, in his 31 page dissent, “By prohibiting them from a real right to marry, plaintiffs as well as their children suffer the real consequences of being “different.” While the Domestic Partnership Act gives, at some cost, many, but not all, of the benefits and protections automatically granted to married persons, we have learned after much pain that ‘separate but equal’ does not substitute for equal rights.”

Lambda Legal plans to file an appeal in the case “as quickly as possible,” Buckel said Lambda Legal filed the lawsuit against the State of New Jersey in June 2002 on behalf of seven lesbian and gay couples seeking full marriage. In November 2003, a state court trial judge denied Lambda Legal’s motion for summary judgment in the case, and the group appealed. The lawsuit is based solely on the New Jersey Constitution, which means the New Jersey Supreme Court, the next and final stop after today’s ruling from the Appellate Division, will have the last word on the case.

“Our clients have waited as long as 33 years to get married, and we’re hopeful that they won’t have to wait much longer. Same-sex couples need and deserve all of the protections guaranteed by the New Jersey State Constitution, and we’re looking forward to making a forceful case at the state’s high court,” Buckel said.

Leading up the list of plaintiff couples are Mark Lewis and Dennis Winslow, two Episcopalian pastors from Union City, Hudson County who have been a couple for 11 years. In addition to Lewis and Winslow, the plaintiff couples in the case are: Karen and Marcye Nicholson-McFadden, who have been together 15 years and are raising a five-year-old son, Kasey, and two-year-old Maya; Saundra Heath and Alicia Toby, who have been together 14 years and are leaders in Newark's Liberation In Truth Unity Fellowship church; Craig Hutchison and Chris Lodewyks, who have been a couple for 33 years and live in Pompton Lakes; Marilyn Maneely and Diane Marini, a southern New Jersey couple who have been together for 13 years; Sarah and Suyin Lael, a 15-year couple raising three girls, seven-year-old Zenzali, five-year-old Tenaj and four-year-old Danica; and Maureen Kilian and Cindy Meneghin, a couple of 30 years with a twelve-year-old son, Josh, and ten-year-old daughter, Sarah.

Lawrence S. Lustberg of Gibbons, DelDeo, Dolan, Griffinger & Vecchione, one of New Jersey's largest and most prestigious law firms, are cooperating attorneys for Lambda Legal in this case.

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Contact: Lisa Hardaway, 212-809-8585 ext.266

Lambda Legal is a national organization committed to achieving full recognition of the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender people and those with HIV through impact litigation, education and public policy work.