New Jersey moves toward codifying interracial marriage

By: Katie Sobko
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey

..... It's 2023 - and yet New Jersey has never officially codified the right of people of different races to marry. A bill doing just that is making its way through the Legislature.
..... Approved unanimously by the Assembly in February, [2023] the bill cleared the state Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday. [06/12/2023] It still requires approval from the full Senate before making its way to Governor Phil Murphy;s desk.
..... The legislation notes that the "right to marry or enter into a union with a person of any race, including the same or a different race, is a fundamental right and that race shall not be declared to be a prohibiting factor."
..... The bill praises the legislature for never outright prohibiting the right of people pf different races to marry, meaning there's no need to "reverse invidious discrimination in marriage or civil union status on the basis or race.
..... The bill would take effect immediately. Interracial marriage was legalized nationally on June 12, 1967, when the United States Supreme Court overturned the convictions of a husband, a white person, and wife, a black person, in Loving v. Virginia. Loving Day, a celebration of interracial marriage by its supporters, is held annually on June 12. Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decisions in June 2022 demonstrated, ensuring that protections exist on a state level may be considered necessary. In the case, the United States Supreme court overturned the court's 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade, which established the constitutional right to an abortion. It left the decision to the discretion of individual states.

SCOTUS ruling on Roe fuels concerns

..... Supreme Justice Clarence Thomas does not appear to want to stop there. in a concurring opinion he wrote for the Dobbs decision, Thomas suggested that the Supreme Court should reconsider opinions protecting same-sex relationships, marriage equality and access to contraceptives.
..... Thomas said the Supreme Court "should reconsider all of this Court's substantive due process precedents, including Griswold, Lawrence, and Obergefell ... Because any substantive due process decision is 'demonstrably erroneous."
..... Griswold v. Connecticut was a 1965 decision that granted couples the legal right to contraception, Lawrence v. Texas in 2003 ruled that anti-sodomy laws were unconstitutional, and Obergefell v. Hodges in 2015 guaranteed the right of marriage to same-sex couples.
..... New Jersey had already taken steps to provide protection for same-sex marriage. Murphy signed a law in January 2022 that codified marriage equality in New Jersey by "providing that all laws concerning marriage and civil union are to be read with gender neutral intent."
..... "Despite the progress we have made as a country, there is still much work to be done to protect the LGBTQ+ community from intolerance and injustice. New Jersey is stronger and fairer when every member of our LGBTQ+ family is valued and given equal protection under the law," Murphy said at the time.
..... That law bough the state in line with the 2013 decision in Garden State Equality v. Dow as well as the Supreme Court's 2015 Obergefell decision and ensures that the right to same-sex marriage will continue to exists in New Jersey even if these state and federal court precedents were to be overturned.
..... "While it should not be a question that interracial marriage is a fundamental right, this legislation will safeguard our residents, should the U.S. Supreme Court strike down Loving v. Virginia," state Senator Teresa Ruiz said in a statement. "This bill reaffirms our strongly-rooted belief that love is love and people have a right to marry who they want, regardless of their race."
..... Jennifer Sciortino, a spokesperson for Murphy, was proud to sign legislation codifying the right to same-sex marriage, due to the danger posed by the right-wing majority on the U.S. Supreme Court, he would be equally proud to sign legislation codifying the right to interracial marriage should it come to his desk."

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