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December 6, 2006

Judge asks R.I.'s highest court to rule on gay divorce

Journal photo / Kathy Borchers
Nancy Palmisciano, lawyer for Cassandra B. Ormiston, right, speaks to Judge Jeremiah Jeremiah during today's hearing on whether Ormiston and Margaret R. Chambers can get divorced in Rhode Island. Ormiston and Chambers were married in Massachusetts shortly after Massachusetts became the first state in the nation to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

PROVIDENCE -- The question of whether a family court judge can hear a gay divorce case is moving to the state's highest court.

Chief Family Court Judge Jeremiah Jeremiah has agreed to ask the Rhode Island Supreme Court if he has jurisdiction in the case of a lesbian couple who married in Massachusetts and are seeking a divorce in Rhode Island.

Jeremiah said it is the first such case, and current Rhode Island law does not say how such cases should be handled.

Margaret Chambers and Cassandra Ormiston of Providence were married in Massachusetts after that state's Supreme Judicial Court legalized same-sex unions in late 2003.

The couple filed for divorce in October, citing irreconcilable differences.

-- Eric Tucker, Associated Press Writer

Posted by Jack Perry  at 12:19 PM | Permalink

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