| Topic: |
Science > Abortion |
| User: |
"Osprey" |
| Date: |
02 Mar 2004 09:33:43 PM |
| Object: |
N.Y. Gay-Marriage Mayor Charged With 19 Counts |
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,113086,00.html
N.Y. Gay-Marriage Mayor Charged With 19 Counts
Tuesday, March 02, 2004
NEW PALTZ, N.Y. - The village's mayor was charged Tuesday with 19 criminal
counts for performing weddings for gay couples, an act of defiance that
thrust the small community into the center of the national debate over
same-sex marriage (search).
Jason West (search) was charged with solemnizing marriages for couples who
had no licenses, a misdemeanor under the domestic relations law, according
to Ulster County (search) District Attorney Donald Williams.
Although West could face a maximum penalty of a year in jail, the prosecutor
said a jail term wasn't being contemplated at this point.
The 26-year-old Green Party mayor said he will plead innocent at his court
hearing Wednesday and that he would still go through with his plans to marry
as many as two dozen gay couples Saturday.
"I'm incredibly disappointed," West said. "Apparently, it's a crime to
uphold the constitution of New York state."
West performed wedding ceremonies for 25 gay couples Friday, making him the
second mayor in the country to perform same-sex marriages. It also made this
small college village 75 miles north of New York City another flash point in
the national debate over gay marriage. More than 3,400 couples have been
married in San Francisco and West has about 1,000 couples on a waiting list.
The issue flared up in Oregon on Tuesday as well, when the attorney for
Multnomah County, which includes the city of Portland, issued an opinion
saying same-sex marriages should be allowed there.
The affect of the opinion was not immediately clear. A news conference by
the attorney and the county commissioners was scheduled for Wednesday.
In New Paltz, the mayor's punishment for the misdemeanor, absent jail, could
run from a $25 to $500 fine. Williams said he did not know whether West
performed the marriages of his own accord or after getting bad legal advice.
"If he's doing it sincerely out of a moral conviction and out of some naive
misunderstanding of the law, then that would enter into the equation," the
prosecutor said.
Williams said his charges do not hinge on whether gay marriage is legal in
New York, only that the weddings were performed for couples who did not have
marriage licenses.
State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer has said he will decide this week
whether New York law allows gay marriage. He declined comment Tuesday night
on the criminal charges filed against West.
Williams said the misdemeanor complaint lists 19 charges -- instead of 25
for the number of weddings performed -- because police at the scene provided
eyewitness accounts of only 19 ceremonies. He said more charges are
possible.
With West vowing to go through with more gay weddings, opponents had hoped
Williams would act to stop him. But he said he did not have the legal power
to issue an injunction barring the ceremonies. He could file more criminal
charges after this weekend's weddings.
West said the prospect of further punishment does not deter him, adding that
the newlywed couples inspire him.
"Just the looks on their faces, just the absolute joy of finally being able
to be equal," he said. "That is the highest moral calling I could possibly
imagine."
State Sen. Thomas Duane, a Manhattan Democrat and one of three openly gay
state lawmakers, called Williams' actions "malicious."
"Does the Ulster County D.A. really want to put someone in jail for
recognizing long-term relationships between people?" he said. "Does he
really want to put in jail someone who recognizes same-sex families? Really,
the Ulster County D.A. should be prosecuted for malicious prosecution, which
is a felony in New York."
Also Tuesday, the director of the New York Conference of Mayors said several
mayors around the state are waiting for Spitzer to decide if same-sex
marriages are permitted.
"Some have said, `If it were legal, I would perform them,"' Edward Farrell
said, adding that many officials have been confused by the law because it
appears to be gender neutral.
Gov. George Pataki said his counsel believes gay marriage is clearly not
allowed under the law, but he will await Spitzer's opinion.
"It's clear to me he's breaking the law," Pataki said of West.
Meanwhile, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger softened his stance on
same-sex marriages during an appearance Monday on "The Tonight Show With Jay
Leno."
Schwarzenegger told Leno that such unions would be "fine with me" if the
courts or the voters change state law and make them legal.
While he said he supports the law approved by California voters last year
that proclaims marriage can only involve a man and a woman, the Republican
added that if the law were changed he'd go along.
"Let the court decide," he said. "Let the people decide."
Previously, Schwarzenegger had sent mixed messages on same-sex marriages,
ordering state Attorney General Bill Lockyer to "take immediate steps" to
stop San Francisco from allowing them, but doing nothing to enforce that
directive.
Last month on NBC's "Meet the Press," he warned of anarchy and deadly
consequences if the San Francisco marriages were not stopped. "All of a
sudden we see riots and we see protests and we see people clashing,"
Schwarzenegger said. "The next thing we know is there are injured or there
are dead people, and we don't want to have that."
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