Tag Archives: marriage equality

Lewis Unlikely This Week

Posted on by

NJ Gay Marriage Ruling Unlikely This Week | 365gay.com

[Chief Justice Deborah Poritz’s] last day on the bench will be Wednesday and both supporters and opponents of gay marriage have said they believe the ruling would be issued before then.

But the court Tuesday on its Web site said that no rulings are expected on Wednesday. That also makes it unlikely any decision will be issued this week.

Some legal analysts now suggest the court will not deliver a ruling before next month’s election out of concerns it could influence, one way or another, the outcome. They point to the ruling on same-sex marriage handed down in Massachusetts which came more than a week after the 2004 election.

If true, this would be a relief. No need to give Republicans a cudgel right now.

Lewis This Week?

Posted on by

New York Times | Speculation on Gay Marriage Ruling Swirls in New Jersey

Will the New Jersey Supreme Court issue its same-sex marriage decision this week?

Maybe not.

This in-depth article from tomorrow’s New York Times states that although Chief Justice Deborah Poritz retires on Thursday, the case doesn’t have to be announced by then. A retired justice can apparently vote and write opinions in cases that he or she took part in hearing. The decision could be announced after Election Day – perhaps way after Election Day. Apparently a recent decision in another case was issued 20 months after oral arguments. (It’s been only eight months since oral arguments in Lewis, the marriage case.)

Also from the article: “the small circle of obsessive court-watchers here are stuck staring at the Supreme Court’s Web site, www.judiciary.state.nj.us/supreme/index.htm, where a list of decisions to be issued the next day is posted each weekday at 10 a.m.”

Dallas Voice

Posted on by

Dallas Voice | New Jersey ruling could be blockbuster

Quotes from an article about New Jersey’s pending gay marriage decision:

Conventional wisdom says the New Jersey Supreme Court will decide whether or not to legalize same-sex marriage on or before Wednesday…. But conventional wisdom has been wrong before.

True. But conventional wisdom is usually right.

Unlike Massachusetts, New Jersey does not have a residency requirement, so a door that opens in the Garden State will be open to all Americans. Surely hundreds of couples will make a beeline to the state, and just as surely the far right will fire up the engines on its next backlash machine.

That’s also true – and a reason why I’m worried.

The mainstream press appears oblivious to this impending development, so expect the ink to flow and the strings to pull out of the chatty Cathys on the cable news channels as reporters and analysts suddenly come to grips with a decision that has been in the works since February.

Again, true. The New Jersey case seems to be very much under the media’s radar. It’ll be fun to watch all the breathless analysis.