A Rhode Island Superior Court judge has refused to hear the divorce case of a lesbian couple, saying her court does not have jurisdiction.
The Rhode Island Supreme Court last year ruled that the state's family court could not grant a divorce to Margaret Chambers and Cassandra Ormiston, who got "married" in 2004 in Massachusetts.
The justices said the state statute that created the family court recognized marriage as between only a man and a woman and the court, therefore, could not divorce a same-sex couple.
Bruce Hausknecht, judicial analyst for Focus on the Family Action, said this is exactly the type of problem that will result from California's decision to allow same-sex "marriages."
"The clog to the state court systems around the country as same-sex couples try to enforce some aspect of a California or Massachusetts same-sex 'marriage' will be time-consuming and costly," he said. "This court made the right decision, but this case has occupied Rhode Island courts for a couple years — at taxpayer expense."
