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Massachusetts Issues Landmark Ruling

BY Shari A. Levitan
November 18, 2003

On November 18, 2003, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court issued a 4-3 decision in Goodridge v. Department of Public Health, concerning the constitutionality of the denial of same-sex marriages in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The case was brought by seven gay and lesbian couples, all of whom have been in committed relationships that range from 4 to 30 years in duration. Four of the couples have children. In March and April of 2001, the Department of Public Health refused to issue marriage licenses to each of the couples. The seven couples then filed suit claiming that denying same-sex couples marriage licenses violated Massachusetts law.

That decision held that a ban on same-sex marriage violates the Massachusetts Constitution. For members of the gay and lesbian community and advocates of the legalization of same-sex marriage, this is the good news. The decision, written by Chief Justice Marshall, acknowledges both the legal and emotional significance of marriage and states that denying this right to same-sex couples offends the Massachusetts Constitution's guarantee of equality before the law ' “Without the right to marry ' or more properly, the right to choose to marry ' one is excluded from the full range of human experience and denied full protection of the laws for one's avowed commitment to an intimate and lasting human relationship.” Most significantly, however, the Supreme Judicial Court directs the Massachusetts legislature to “take such action as it may deem appropriate in light of this opinion” during the next 180 days. The Supreme Judicial Court is the Commonwealth's ultimate authority on constitutional issues and as such, the Legislature cannot pass a law contrary to the Court's decision. The Legislature, however, is not left powerless, and the fight for same-sex marriage in the Commonwealth is far from over.

The Supreme Judicial Court intended to “leave intact the Legislature's broad discretion to regulate marriage,” which may be interpreted as the “bad news” for the gay and lesbian community. As was done in Hawaii and Alaska, the Legislature may still initiate a movement to amend the Massachusetts Constitution to prohibit same-sex marriage. That said, a constitutional amendment typically takes at least two years to pass and by that time, there may be thousands of legal same-sex marriages entered into in Massachusetts.

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