Professor Edward Stein on same sex marriage and its effects on Family Law – Video
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpZPD3FH-3w
One comment
In addition to looking at the effect that same sex marriage has had on family law, I think it is interesting to focus on the legal community’s reactions to the passage of same sex marriage laws. As many readers may be aware, over the summer the state of New York passed a law allowing same sex marriage. Through my summer activities and internships, I was able to talk to several different judges on their feelings about the law along with many members of the court personnel. Of these, the one that I recall most involved a judge that said he/she would not marry same sex couples regardless of the new law. Perhaps I am coming from a bit of a naïve perspective, but hearing that was a little shocking to me. Granted, there were other judges in the court that were willing to do so and hence the fact that this particular judge was refusing to do so is probably something that will never come up, but the fact that the judge was refusing to adhere to the law was still quite shocking. Getting back to a more global focus, this begs the question of even if such laws are passed on more national levels, will they really have to affect that society hopes they will or will they lead to other forms of civil injustice?
In addition to looking at the effect that same sex marriage has had on family law, I think it is interesting to focus on the legal community’s reactions to the passage of same sex marriage laws. As many readers may be aware, over the summer the state of New York passed a law allowing same sex marriage. Through my summer activities and internships, I was able to talk to several different judges on their feelings about the law along with many members of the court personnel. Of these, the one that I recall most involved a judge that said he/she would not marry same sex couples regardless of the new law. Perhaps I am coming from a bit of a naïve perspective, but hearing that was a little shocking to me. Granted, there were other judges in the court that were willing to do so and hence the fact that this particular judge was refusing to do so is probably something that will never come up, but the fact that the judge was refusing to adhere to the law was still quite shocking. Getting back to a more global focus, this begs the question of even if such laws are passed on more national levels, will they really have to affect that society hopes they will or will they lead to other forms of civil injustice?