PRESS RELEASE

(10/25/2006)

New Jersey Supreme Court Shows Contempt Toward Marriage

Dictates law to legislative branch in granting homosexual "marriage"

WASHINGTON, Oct. 25 /Christian Newswire/ -- Concerned Women for America (CWA) criticized the New Jersey Supreme Court today for finding a so-called “right” to same- sex marriage in the state constitution, a ruling that CWA’s Chief Counsel Jan LaRue says “essentially mirrors what the Vermont Supreme Court did in 1999.”

In today’s 4-3 decision, the Garden State’s highest court went against two lower courts and the will of the people by siding with seven homosexual couples who were refused marriage licenses and alleged that this violated the New Jersey state constitution. By ruling in favor of these couples, the court ruled against preserving the most fundamental institution in our society: one-man, one-woman marriage.

"This is a textbook example of agenda-driven judges who are willing to twist their state laws and invade the province of the legislative branch in order to force same-sex 'marriage' on the people of New Jersey," LaRue said. “The court snubbed its nose at 28 separate statute sections that include a specific reference to either the term 'married woman' and a 'married man' or to the term 'husband and wife.' Because New Jersey has no residency requirement for marriage, if the legislature caves in to the court, it could open the door for lawsuits challenging every state’s marriage law."

“New Jersey has now given citizens greater reason to vote on November 7 to protect marriage in the 8 states with referendums on the ballot,” said Wendy Wright, CWA’s President. “The New Jersey Supreme Court has distinguished itself once again for imposing its own form of discrimination by arrogantly declaring that a woman is not needed to make a marriage, or that a man is not.

“The thirty-year experiment of treating marriage as expendable, by making divorce easy and children fatherless, has proven to be a disaster for women, children and society. This should provide enough evidence for courts and legislators to quit abusing marriage by pretending it is less important or demanding than it is. It’s utter discrimination to claim a woman is unnecessary, or a man is unnecessary, to make a marriage. We should not be forced, or children subjected to, another social experiment with marriage simply to make individuals personally satisfied.”

Concerned Women for America is the nation’s largest public policy women’s organization.