Home Search About Latest news Issues by state Issues by circuit Index of cases Legal Commentary Links New York STATUTES Marriage Protection Act New York has not adopted protection of marriage legislation. In each of the past three legislative sessions, bills have been introduced in the New York legislature to declare that same-sex marriages are invalid in New York. All of these bills have died in committee. See 1997 Assembly Bill 158; 1997 Assembly Bill 1649; 2001 Assembly Bill 892; 2001 Senate Bill 2195. Same-Sex "Marriage" Legislation Governor Eliot Spitzer introduced a same-sex "marriage" bill in April of 2007. The bill passed in the New York State Assembly on June 19, 2007, but failed in the New York State Senate and was then returned to the Assembly. LITIGATION Martinez v. County of Monroe In 2006, Patricia Martinez of Rochester, New York filed suit against the County of Monroe, as she was employed by Monroe Community College, which refused to extend health care benefits to her “partner,” Lisa Ann Golden, to whom she was “married” to in Ontario, Canada and was issue a civil union with in Vermont. The State Supreme Court dismissed the suit, stating that the state does not recognize same-sex “marriages.” On Feb 2, 2008, a five-judge panel of the Appellate Division of the State Supreme Court ruled unanimously in rejecting the 2006 decision, stating that marriages are entitled to recognition in New York. Godfrey v. DiNapoli (Hevisi) A taxpayer action pursuant to New York Finance Law section 123. This section provides standing and a cause of action to NY state taxpayers to challenge illegal acts of state officials. Plaintiffs are residents of Westchester, New York. Hevesi issues a proclaimation in October of 2004 wherein he adopted a policy (bases on the NY Atty General's opinion) that NY was obligated to recognize out of state marriages under the principle of comity. A followup letter from this office was sent on August 2, 2006 after the NY Ct. of Appeals case came down in July 2006 asking whether the Comptroller would maintain its policy. The Comptrollers office responded on August 8, 2006 indicated that they would in fact maintain the policy. Godfrey v. Spano This is a taxpayer challenge to Westchester County Executive, Andrew Spano's executive order which purports to recognize same- sex "marriages" performed in jurisdictions outside New York State. Lewis, et al v. New York State Department of Civil Service, et al. The Commissioner of the Department of Civil Service has issued an ultra vires policy by enabling legislation to include same-sex "spouses" married out of state. Hernandez v. Robles Lambda Legal lawsuit demanding a right to marriage for same-sex couples. Kane v. Marsolais Article 78 proceeding contests denial of same sex marriage license as violating the domestic relations law of New York and constitutional equal protection and due process guarantees. Filed in Supreme Court for Albany County. Samuels v. New York Department of Health ACLU lawsuit demanding a right to marriage for same-sex couples. Shields v. State, 783 N.Y.S. 2d 270 (Oct. 18, 2004) Recent lawsuit demanding a right to marriage for same-sex couples. Seymour v. Holcomb, 790 N.Y.S.2d 858 The trial court ruled that state laws recognizing marriage as a union between a man and a woman do not violate the New York Constitution. (Feb. 23, 2005) Hebel v. West The mayor of New Palz decided to follow the example of San Francisco, and began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. This lawsuit was filed seeking a permanent injunction prohibiting the mayor from issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. The trial court has issued a preliminary injunction. Langan v. St. Vincent's, 765 N.Y.S.2d 411 (2003) Vermont civil union partner brought wrongful death action against New York hospital. The trial court has ruled that a Vermont civil union partner is a “spouse” for purposes of New York’s wrongful death statute. An appeal is pending. Storrs v. Holcomb, 645 N.Y.S.2d 286 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 1996), aff'd on other grounds, 666 N.Y.S.2d 835 (Ct. App. 1997) Two men filled suit seeking a marriage license. The court ruled that they were not entitled to a license, and that there is no fundamental right to same-sex marriage. Anonymous v. Anonymous, 325 N.Y.S.2d 499 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 1971) A man married another man, believing he was marrying a woman. When the plaintiff discovered that his “wife” was in fact a man, he immediately left the apartment, and subsequently filed a lawsuit to have the marriage invalidated. The court held that because the law does not recognize a marriage between persons of the same-sex, there never was a valid marriage.
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