Not surprisingly, Pennsylvania State Judge Pellegrini has ordered Montgomery County Clerk Bruce Hanes to stop issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. In July, Hanes began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples that came into his office applying for marriage licenses after the United States Supreme Court ruled the federal Defense of Marriage Act was unconstitutional a month prior.
Judge Pellegrini
While Hanes’s actions can be seen as noble, and helped bring the issue of marriage equality to the forefront in the only northeastern state that does not recognize same-sex marriage besides New Jersey, the ruling by this judge is exactly what I expected and does not dampen any chances of challenging Pennsylvania’s own Defense of Marriage Act being challenged in federal court by the ACLU and over 20 other individuals.
D. Bruce Hanes (D)
This is what part of his ruling stated:
“Unless and until either the General Assembly repeals or suspends the Marriage Law provisions or a court of competent jurisdiction orders that the law is not to be obeyed or enforced, the Marriage Law in its entirety is to be obeyed and enforced by all Commonwealth public officials.”
You can read the entire opinion Judge Pellegrini released here:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/167679225/Penn-Dept-of-Health-v-Hanes-Opinion
It should be interesting to see what, if anything the couples that were granted marriage licenses will do now that Pellegrini has ruled Hanes to stop.
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