On June 29, 2011, an organization advocating for LGBT rights in New Jersey, along with twelve same-sex couples and their children, filed a lawsuit in the Mercer County Superior Court of New Jersey under the equal protection clauses of the New Jersey and U.S. Constitutions.

The plaintiffs asked the court for a declaration that same-sex couples' exclusion from the institution of marriage violated their constitutional rights. The plaintiffs also sought an injunction preventing the state from (1) denying them access to civil marriage, (2) maintaining the unequal legal status of "civil union" solely for same-sex couples, and (3) refusing to recognize same-sex marriages legally obtained in other jurisdictions. Specifically, the plaintiffs claimed that the denial of the legal status of "marriage" and "spouse" for same-sex couples caused their families civic and commercial harms by excluding them from benefits and protections equal to those given to married couples.

On July 3, 2013, the plaintiffs moved for summary judgment, relying on the U.S. Supreme Court decision in U.S. v. Windsor, which held that restricting the federal interpretation of "marriage" and "spouse" to apply only to heterosexual unions was unconstitutional under the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment.

On September 27, 2013, the New Jersey Superior Court (Honorable Mary C. Jacobson A.J.S.C), granted the motion for summary judgment and found for the plaintiffs, ordering the State of New Jersey to permit any and all same-sex couples, who otherwise satisfied the requirements to enter into a civil marriage, to marry in New Jersey.

The governor and the attorney general of New Jersey attempted to delay same-sex marriages through an appeal to the New Jersey State Supreme Court, but withdrew this appeal on October 21, 2013. On October 21, 2013, same-sex marriage became legal in New Jersey. This case is now closed.

Katrina Fahey - 10/28/2013
- 11/01/2015


compress summary