Yeah! They have half a brain! N.J. Supreme Court rules same-sex couples must receive identical rights; 3rd in a Series: Marriage Inequity

3rd in a Series: Marriage Inequity
Wyatt Buchanan, Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Found at: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/10/25/BAGPDLVPA74.DTL

N.J. Supreme Court rules same-sex couples must receive identical rights
(10-25) 12:38 PDT TRENTON, N.J. -- Same-sex couples must receive the same rights as married couples, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled today.

In a 4-3 decision, the court found that "denying committed same-sex couples the financial and social benefits and privileges given to their married heterosexual counterparts bears no substantial relationship to a legitimate government purpose."

The court went on to say that it should be up to the "democratic process" to determine how those rights are given to same-sex couples, whether through marriage or "some other term," such as civil unions.

While the court was closely split, the dissenting justices concurred that same-sex couples are entitled to the benefits and privileges of marriage, but said they believed that the couples should be granted nothing short of marriage.