Robert Ambrogi's LawSites

The court that made history in 2003 for allowing gays in Massachusetts to marry today ruled that nonresident gays do not share that right. Today’s decision in Cote-Whitacre v. Department of Public Health was a one-paragraph order followed by three concurring opinions and one dissent. The one-paragraph order said:

“The orders denying the plaintiffs’ motions for preliminary injunction in these cases are affirmed. A majority of the Justices also agree that, as to the plaintiffs who reside in Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont, a judgment for the defendants shall enter in the Superior Court because same-sex marriage is prohibited in those States. As to the New York and Rhode Island plaintiffs, their cases shall proceed in the Superior Court, on an expedited basis, for a determination whether same-sex marriage is prohibited in those States. So ordered.”