On October 25, 2006, the Supreme Court of New Jersey unanimously ruled in Lewis v. Harris that the “unequal dispensation of rights and benefits to committed same-sex partners can no longer be tolerated under our State Constitution.” With the Harris decision, same-sex couples were granted the same rights, benefits and responsibilities as heterosexual couples with respect to their relationships. The court left it up the state legislature to decide how to implement the law. On December 14, 2006, the New Jersey Legislature passed a Civil Unions bill that Governor Corzine signed into law on December 21, 2006. New Jersey’s civil union law took effect on February 19, 2007. Over the next 5 years, multiple studies were conducted and found that despite the requirement set by SCNJ, Civil Unions did not provide equality to same sex couples. In 2011, the state legislature passed a bill that would change Civil Unions to
October 11, 2013
