Elmont Online

ALBANY -— A lawsuit seeking to overturn the passage of same-sex marriage in New York may proceed, according to a ruling from acting state Supreme Court Judge Robert Wiggins.

The four-page decision notes the court has no intention of giving an opinion on same-sex marriage, but merely the procedural questions raised in the suit brought by the conservative group New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms.

Wiggins, a Livingston County jurist, offers harsh criticism of the way things get done at the Capitol, including Gov. Andrew Cuomo's justification for issuing a "message of necessity" that rushed the legislation onto the Senate floor on the final evening of this year's session. Without that message, the bill would have had to age on lawmakers' desks for three days.

Cuomo's message stated that speed was required as long as 50,000 New York gay couples were being denied their right to marry — a set of circumstances that had pertained for the previous two centuries without prompting emergency action. Messages of necessity are, however, used frequently to move a bill ahead for reasons that have more to do with political convenience than actual urgency.

"Logically and clearly this cite by the governor is disingenuous," Wiggins wrote of Cuomo's message.

Despite this, Wiggins concluded that since the message was accepted by the Senate, it remains outside the court's reach.

The judge then takes a rather literary swipe at the case made by Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, acting as both the state's lawyer and a defendant in the suit. "It is ironic that much of the state's brief passionately spews sanctimonious verbiage on the separation of powers in the governmental branches, and clear arm-twisting by the Executive on the Legislative permeates the entire process," Wiggins wrote.

But in the end, the judge dismissed all of the lawsuit's complaints except for NYFCF's argument that a meeting involving the governor and members of the Senate Republican majority conference possibly violated the state's Open Meeting Law. Without agreeing or disagreeing on that narrow point, the judge calls it "a justiciable issue" to be determined in court.

The ruling also dropped Schneiderman as a defendant.

The plaintiffs called the ruling a victory. "We have said all along that we look forward to our day in court," said Kevin McGuire of NYFCF. "Now we will have it. The legality of our legislative process must be protected."

Spokespeople for Schneiderman and Cuomo declined comment.

Reach Seiler at 454-5619 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .