By Joseph Ax and Edith Honan
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A New Jersey judge on Friday ordered state officials to allow same-sex couples to marry starting October 21, saying the current civil union system unfairly deprives them of federal benefits available to married couples.
Judge Mary Jacobson in Mercer County Superior Court in Trenton issued the order as part of long-running litigation brought by a group of gay couples against the state.
The state attorney general's office, which has defended against the lawsuit, could appeal the decision and seek a stay of Jacobson's ruling. The attorney general's office and the office of Gov. Chris Christie, who opposes same-sex marriage, did not immediately comment on the ruling.
New Jersey would become the 14th state to permit gay marriage. It is also legal in the District of Columbia.
The ruling is the first to strike down a state ban on gay marriage since The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in June to invalidate the federal law defining marriage as between a man and a woman.
It also highlights, once again, the shifting legal and social landscape when it comes to gay marriage. Polls have shown increasing public support for same-sex marriage and civil rights groups have prevailed in a number of courthouses across the country. Ten years ago, no U.S. states permitted gay marriage.
In a 53-page opinion, Jacobson said New Jersey same-sex couples in civil unions are now missing out on federal benefits they would otherwise receive if allowed to marry as a result of the Supreme Court's action.
"These couples are now denied benefits solely as a result of the label placed upon them by the state," she wrote.
As a result, Jacobson said, the state constitution's guarantee of equal protection requires the legalization of gay marriage.
New Jersey's civil union system was installed after the state's Supreme Court ruled in 2006 that same-sex couples were entitled to the same rights as heterosexual married couples. That decision led the state legislature to pass a civil unions law meant to grant same-sex couples equal rights.
In June, the Supreme Court struck down the federal Defense of Marriage Act, finding it illegally denied benefits such as tax breaks to gay married couples that are available for heterosexual couples.
That prompted the New Jersey plaintiffs - who had already challenged the state's civil unions in court - to argue that civil unions could no longer guarantee equal treatment.
"The Supreme Court opened the door to federal benefits, and now the Court in New Jersey has ruled that same-sex couples must be allowed to marry," Hayley Gorenberg, a lawyer with Lambda Legal who represented the New Jersey couples, said in a statement. "This news is thrilling."
(Editing by Paul Thomasch and Gunna Dickson)
http://news.yahoo.com/jersey-judge-orders-same-sex-marriage-statewide-190645976.html
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