Charges Tossed Against Mayor Who Wed Gays
A judge in Albany dismissed criminal charges against a small-town mayor for marrying gay couples, saying the state failed to show it had a legitimate interest in banning same-sex weddings.
New Paltz Town Court Justice Jonathan Katz also ruled that prosecutors failed to prove that the law New Paltz Mayor Jason West was charged with violating was constitutional.
West had faced the possibility of fines or up to a year in jail for presiding at the weddings of more than two dozen same-sex couples Feb. 27.
The weddings drew the Hudson Valley village of New Paltz into the growing national debate over gay marriage.
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