Thursday, 4:30 PM
New Jersey court: same-sex couples entitled to same rights as heterosexual couples
By Jonathan Saltzman and Raja Mishra, GLOBE STAFF
New Jersey’s highest court ruled Wednesday that same-sex couples are entitled to the same rights as heterosexual couples under state marriage statutes.
The court left the task of naming the newly recognized right — whether marriage, civil union, or something else — up to the New Jersey Legislature, which must vote within 180 days, leaving open the possibility that the Garden State could become the second state, after Massachusetts, to permit same-sex marriage.
In a 4-3 decision, the New Jersey Supreme Court was unanimous in its view that gays and lesbians should be provided with the same rights heterosexuals have under marriage statutes but bitterly divided over what to label the right and how to establish it.
"Although we cannot find that a fundamental right to same-sex marriage exists in this state, the unequal dispensation of rights and benefits to committed same-sex partners can no longer be tolerated under our state Constitution,’’ wrote New Jersey Supreme Court Justice Barry T. Albin in the majority opinion.
The ruling comes at a politically charged moment, with national midterm elections two weeks away and the Massachusetts Legislature set to convene a Constitutional Convention Nov. 9 to debate gay marriage.
