State says same-sex couples in Montgomery County have no place seeking inclusion in lawsuit

English: Photo I took of Same-Sex Marriage lines Feb. 15, 2004 in SF (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Jenny DeHuff | Mainline Media News | September 3, 2013

NORRISTOWN — In a legal brief filed Wednesday in Commonwealth Court, the Pennsylvania Department of Health argued that the inclusion of same-sex couples as “intervenors” in the state’s lawsuit against the Montgomery County register of wills would be “unnecessary, redundant and superfluous.”

Thirty-two gay and lesbian couples awarded marriage licenses by Register of Wills and Clerk of the Orphan’s Court D. Bruce Hanes last week asked a judge to add their names as “intervenors” in the Health Department lawsuit. In its brief, the state, which had until Wednesday to respond, argued that the couples’ interests were already properly served by the arguments made by Hanes and his attorneys.

“In short, this case is about one thing: whether a local official may willfully disregard a statute on the basis of his personal legal opinion that the statute is unconstitutional,” says the brief, which was authored by James D. Schultz, attorney for the commonwealth. “This court need not and should not delve into the clerk’s motives or reasons for his disregard for the rule of law and dereliction of his duties under the law.”

A breakdown of gay marriage licenses in Minn.

Same-Sex Marriage Rally (Photo credit: City of West Hollywood)

Associated Press | WXOW | September 3, 2013

A breakdown by counties of marriage licenses issued to gay and lesbian couples in Minnesota. The state became the 12th to allow same-sex marriage beginning Aug. 1 and some 1,640 couples so far have obtained a license that allow them to wed over the ensuing six months.

MORE THAN 200:

Hennepin (950) and Ramsey (264)

BETWEEN 10 AND 100:

Washington, Olmsted, Dakota, Clay, Anoka, Scott, Polk, Crow Wing, Winona, Carver, Stearns, Goodhue, Blue Earth

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New Mexico County Los Alamos Ordered To Issue Marriage Licenses To Gay Couples

English: Chicoma, the highest peak in the Jemez Mountains, New Mexico, in snow. Some houses in Los Alamos, New Mexico, are visible. From East Road (New Mexico 502), Los Alamos, New Mexico. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Carlos Santoscoy | On Top Magazine | September 1, 2013

A New Mexico judge has order Los Alamos County Clerk Sharon Stover to begin issuing marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples.

According to the Los Alamos Monitor, District Court Judge Sheri Raphaelson ordered Stover to begin issuing such licenses or appear in court to explain why that shouldn’t happen.

Stover said she would announce her decision no later than 4 PM on Tuesday.

“I consider this to be a matter of great importance,” Stover said in a written statement, “not only to Los Alamos County, but to all other County Clerks in New Mexico.”

“I have not had adequate time yet to review the documentation we just received with our County Attorney, and thus I am not ready to make a statement to media about whether or not I will comply with Judge Raphaelson’s request at this time.”

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GOP Lawmakers Sue To Stop NM Clerk From Issuing Marriage Licenses To Gay Couples

Same Sex Marriage (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Carlos Santoscoy | On Top Magazine | August 31, 2013

Republican lawmakers in New Mexico have filed a lawsuit seeking to stop a county clerk from issuing marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples.

According to the AP, the action targets Dona Ana County Clerk Lynn Ellins, whose office has issued more than 200 marriage licenses to gay couples since last week.

Five additional counties have followed Ellins’ lead, most of which acted on court orders.

(Related: 6 New Mexico counties issue marriage licenses to gay couples, cover 56% of state.)

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New Mexico gay marriage: State Judge rules for marriage; GOP being evil

Seal of Doña Ana County, New Mexico (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Becca Morn | America Blog | August 23, 2013

Latest developments in the ongoing marriage equality fight in New Mexico, which I wrote about earlier this week:

• Doña Ana county is still issuing marriage licenses (and registering marriages when solemnized), with over 90 couples now participating. Some are driving or flying in from Texas at this point.

• Two dozen NM state legislators — Republicans all, of course, led by State Senator William Sharer, R-Farmington — said last night that they plan to file a court challenge, possibly as soon as Friday afternoon to try to win an injunction and force Doña Ana county to stop all gay marriages and order all counties not to issue any additional same sex marriage licenses.

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Pennsylvania Sues To Stop Gay Marriage Licenses; Governor Says He’ll Defend Law

English: A photo of Irina Fedotova-Fet and Irina Shipitko in front of the Tverskoy Office for the registration of civil acts of Moscow, where they were denied a marriage license, taken in Moscow, Russia, on May, 12 2009 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Carlos Santoscoy | On Top Magazine | July 31, 2013

Pennsylvania officials on Tuesday took action to stop a county from issuing marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples.

At least 34 gay couples have received a marriage license since D. Bruce Hanes, the register of wills in Montgomery County, announced last week that his office was prepared to issue such licenses in defiance of state law.  Hanes said that he wanted to be “on the right side of history and the law.”

In its petition, the Health Department alleges that Hanes has“repeatedly and continuously” flouted the law.

“There is no limit to the administrative and legal chaos that is likely to flow from the clerk’s unlawful practice of issuing marriage licenses to those who are not permitted under Pennsylvania law to marry,” the complaint states.

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Pennsylvania county to issue same-sex marriage licenses despite ban

American Civil Liberties Union (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Eric W. Dolan | Raw Story | July 23, 2013

Officials in Montgomery County have agreed to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, though the state has a ban on same-sex marriage.

The county’s register of wills, D. Bruce Hanes, said he wants to come down “on the right side of history and the law.”

A lesbian couple contacted him last week to apply for a marriage license. The two women later changed their minds after talking to the American Civil Liberties Union. They feared their license would be invalidated. But Hanes is still prepared to issue same-sex marriage licenses.

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The Backlash Begins: Indiana Makes Same-Sex Marriage a Felony Punishable by Prison

Same Sex Marriage (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Kristen Gwynne | AlterNet | July 10, 2013

On July 1 of next year, same-sex couples applying for a marriage license in Indiana will have  committed a felony punishable by 18 months in prison an a $10,000 fine. The new crime stems from the revival  of a1997 law forbidding false information on a marriage license as a Class D felony. It will also make it a Class B misdemeanor — punishable by up to 180 days in a jail and a maximum fine of $1,000 —  for clergy, judges, and others to perform a same-sex marriage.

The New Civil Rights Movement  explains how the new rule works:

Because Indiana marriage license forms have a space for “male applicant” and “female applicant”, any same-sex couple filling out the form would automatically violate the law. The harsh penalties Indiana lawmakers have approved make it difficult for protest movements like the Campaign for Southern Equality’s “ We Do” Campaign, which encourages same-sex couples to apply for marriage licenses as a protest in states that prohibit same-sex marriages.

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Slow Down: Indiana’s ‘New’ Marriage Law Isn’t Real

Jerame Davis | Bilerico | July 9, 2013

Everything you’ve read about this “new” Indiana law that makes criminals out of same-sex couples who apply for a marriage license is wrong. Dead wrong.

As a native Hoosier, this has me concerned. There is no new law in Indiana that makes criminals out of same-sex couples who apply for a marriage license. An already existing law was updated and there’s been a change in how the state processes marriage license applications. That’s the source of the confusion.

There is actually very little danger of triggering this law if a same-sex couple applies for a marriage license. Here’s why.

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KY: Gay marriage protest ends in arrests

WDRB | January 24, 2013

LOUISVILLE, Ky.  (WDRB) — Police arrested an openly-gay Louisville Baptist minister and his partner after they refused to leave a closed Jefferson County Clerk’s office — the place where they were denied a marriage license late Tuesday afternoon.

It started with a protest outside City Hall by those opposed to Kentucky’s ban on gay marriage.

Then, The Rev. Bojangles Blanchard and Domique James entered the clerk’s office, asked to apply for a marriage license and were denied on the basis that state law does not allow it.

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