Marrying Mayor Will Stand Trial

A judge reinstated criminal charges Wednesday against a small-town mayor who got in trouble for marrying a series of same-sex couples last year.

The resurrection of the case came on the same day that lawmakers in at least three states took up constitutional bans on same-sex marriage. Kansas lawmakers placed a ban on the April 5 ballot, while similar constitutional changes failed in Idaho and passed a House committee in South Dakota.

The rush to write same-sex marriage bans into state constitutions is part of a heated debate that New Paltz Village Mayor Jason West helped ignite last February when he married about two dozen same-sex couples. West, 27, was quickly hit with 24 misdemeanor counts.

But the charges were later dismissed by a town court judge who said there were constitutional problems in banning same-sex marriages.

Ulster County Court Judge J. Michael Bruhn brought back the charges Wednesday, saying public officials cannot pick and choose which laws to obey. He said the case was not about the constitutionality of same-sex marriage, but whether West lived up to his oath of office to uphold the law.

The case will now go to trial, barring a settlement or a successful appeal by West's lawyers.

Attorney Joshua Rosenkranz said no decision had been made yet on whether to appeal, but added that "I know that Jason West is chomping at the bit to face a jury of his peers."

West faces fines and up to a year in jail if convicted on the misdemeanor counts of solemnizing marriages without a license.

West has maintained he was upholding the couples' constitutional rights — and thus his oath of office — by allowing them to wed.

"If I told those the gay couples, 'No, I can't marry you because you're gay,' I'd be violating the state constitution and I'd be violating my oath of office," West said.

Ulster County District Attorney Donald Williams said he was pleased the judge recognized his prosecution was not about same-sex marriage but "a public official who made a conscious decision to put himself above the law."

The charges against West were part of a series of legal actions since the same-sex marriage issue flared up a year ago. West became the second public official in the nation to marry same-sex couples, following San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom.

Thirteen states adopted constitutional amendments to ban same-sex marriage last year.

By Michael Hill