Town Clerk Update: NY Same-Sex Marriage Law and Town Clerk Seeking Religious Exemption

As the NYT reported yesterday, the clash between the same-sex marriage law in NY, the Marriage Equality Act, and the objections, religiously based, of public employees including town clerks, if fomenting.

As we previously discussed, while the Marriage Equality Act has a religious exemption, this does not cover town clerks who issue marriage licenses.  And as we also previously discussed, the Alliance Defense Fund issued a memo to town clerks entitled  "Your Right to Request An Accommodation of Your Sincerely Held Religious Beliefs Concerning Issuance of Marriage Licenses to Same- Sex Couples."

The NYT quotes the clerk in the rural community, Rose Marie Belforti, as saying  "state law 'protects my right to hold both my job and my beliefs.' "  While the article doesn not mention the memo, the state law claim is indeed discussed in the memo, which does not argue the First Amendment. 

At issue may be the contours of "religious accommodation."  According to the NYT article, the clerk's office is open only a limited number of hours, but same-sex couples desiring a marriage license needed to telephone in advance for a special appointment so that a substitute clerk could handle the matter.  The Town Clerk is an elected position.

RR