Judge Says Suit to Void Marriage Act May Proceed

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Source: NYT

Harshly criticizing Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo for the tactics he used to win approval of same-sex marriage, a state judge has ruled that a lawsuit challenging the enactment of New York’s Marriage Equality Act can proceed.

Acting Justice Robert B. Wiggins of State Supreme Court in Livingston County, in the Finger Lakes region, wrote that it was possible that the Republican majority in the State Senate had violated the state’s open meetings law as it discussed whether to bring the marriage bill to a vote.

His ruling offered a flash of hope for the conservative group that filed the lawsuit, New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms, which is asking the court to overturn the marriage law and nullify the weddings that have been performed under it.

The state attorney general, Eric T. Schneiderman, had sought the dismissal of the lawsuit. Justice Wiggins dismissed some elements of the case but said it could proceed on the open-meetings issue.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/30/nyregion/judge-says-lawsuit-against-gay-marriage-law-in-new-york-may-proceed.html