(via Wall Street Journal)
As the government shutdown loomed yesterday, news came out that New Jersey governor Chris Christie, in a completely expected move, has appealed the state court ruling legalizing marriage for all:
Gov. Chris Christie’s administration on Monday asked New Jersey’s top state court to take an appeal of a judge’s ruling that the state must allow gay marriage.
Citing “far-reaching implications,” Acting Attorney General John Hoffman made the request in a letter to the state Supreme Court, which usually does not weigh in on cases until after an appeals court has made a ruling on them.
Hoffman said he is also asking the judge who issued the decision Friday to grant a stay, delaying the implementation date from Oct. 21 until the matter can be settled.
An appeal from Christie’s administration is no surprise. Within hours of the ruling, Christie’s spokesman issued a statement saying he did not intend to let the trial court order stand in an issue in an issue that has been fought repeatedly both in New Jersey’s courts and Legislature.
Advocates for gay marriage did not want Christie, a possible 2016 Republican presidential candidate, to continue his fight against allowing same-sex couples to tie the knot in New Jersey. But they do want the issue fast-tracked to the state’s top court if he does continue to fight it.
Considering the fact that a great majority of New Jersey voters support marriage equality, and that equality advocates in the legislature are close to being able to override Christie’s veto from last year, it surely would be nice if the governor would drop this fight, wouldn’t it?
