Saturday, October 29, 2005

Court: West overstepped
his role by marrying gays

Mayor expected to appeal decision

By Yancey Roy
Journal Albany bureau

ALBANY — New Paltz Mayor Jason West clearly exceeded his authority when he snubbed the marriage laws of New York and performed same-sex marriages, a mid-level court has ruled.

But the case might not be over. The former village board member who sued West thinks the mayor will appeal to the state's highest court, the Court of Appeals.

"I'm sure he'll go as far as he can go with it," Robert Hebel said. "But when it gets there, I'm sure the ruling will be the same."

Late Friday, West's lawyer, E. Joshua Rosenkranz, said he expects to appeal.

A five-judge panel of the Appellate Division unanimously upheld a lower court determination preventing West from carrying out marriage ceremonies for couples without licenses. The New Paltz mayor presided over 24 same-sex marriages in February 2004, saying he was upholding the gay couples' constitutional rights to equal protection.

But the court disagreed.

"West robed himself with judicial powers and declared the marriage laws of this state unconstitutional," Judge John Lahtinen wrote for the court. "Having concluded that the Legislature violated the constitution, he then wrapped himself with that body's power and drafted his own set of documents for licensing marriages. In doing so, he clearly exceeded his role as a village mayor."

Further, the court also dismissed West's contention he was upholding his constitutional oath of office.

"The argument that his acts fell within the scope of his constitutional oath of office ... is without merit," Lahtinen wrote.

Not a surprise

Hebel said the ruling was expected.

"I'm not against gay marriage per se," he said, "but the present laws say you must have a marriage license. You can't decide which laws you want to uphold. ... (West) swore to uphold the laws of New York state, not to interpret them."

State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer has said same-sex marriages violate state law.

West's lawyer, Rosen-kranz, countered this was "one of those rare circumstances" where inaction on West's part would have violated the constitution.

Further, Rosenkranz contended Hebel never had proper legal standing to bring the lawsuit. Only a public official from, say, the attorney general's office or the state Health Department (which oversees marriage licenses) could have sued, he said.

"I do think the court got the standing question wrong," Rosenkranz said.

Meanwhile, the Appellate Division is weighing three separate lawsuits brought on behalf of gay couples denied marriage licenses. A ruling on those cases isn't expected for several weeks. Because of that, Lahtinen said the court need not rule on Hebel's request to declare void the marriages West officiated.

Yancey Roy can be reached at yanceyroy@yahoo.com