JURIST - Paper Chase: New Paltz NY mayor barred from conducting same-sex marriages

New York Supreme Court Justice E. Michael Kavanagh has issued a permanent injunction barring New Paltz, NY Mayor Jason West from conducting same-sex marriages without licenses. The ruling did not address the constitutionality of the state's marriage laws, but instead focused on West's actions. In his decision, Justice Kavanagh wrote "that an elected official may willfully violate a law any time he or she believes it is unconstitutional has profound and unsettling implications. ... This view, if accepted, would mean that the mayor is a law unto himself." West also faces criminal misdemeanor charges for solemnizing marriages for people without licenses. The New York Times has the full story.