19 Criminal Counts Against New Paltz Mayor for Gay Marriages

WABC TV Channel 7

[SMGFan]

Ulster County District Attorney charged the Mayor of New Paltz New York with 19 counts of solemnizing a wedding without a license.

[Jack Wilson]

better not try to solemnize me...

[JLS]

This will be an interesting development.

[mewzilla]

Wow. This guy's got more guts than Spitzer.

[george wythe]

Time to start playing offense.

People scoffing the law should be in the defensive, not the other way around.

[Ham Hock]

Are you sure that isn't "sodomize" ?

[kevao]

Solemnizing, or sodomizing?

[borkrules]

Holy $hit, somebody with the stones to actually enforce the law and defend traditional values.

Will wonders never cease?

[chatham]

This Jerk should be arrested , charged and put in Jail and a New Mayor should be assigned to replace him. He is an Ass. and a criminal.

[george wythe]

The mayor of New Paltz, New York, has been charged with 19 criminal counts for marrying same-sex couples.

New Paltz Mayor Jason West last Thursday said it was his moral duty to marry homosexual couples. He issued marriage certificates to 25 gay couples.

Today, Ulster County District Attorney Donald Williams lodged 19 counts of "solemnizing a marriage without a license" against West.

source

[Brytani]

Too bad there isn't a prosecutor in California (or Judge for that matter) with the cajones to do the same thing.

Any comments from the liberal mayor yet?

I'm WFN at the moment (without Fox News) as Tivo is being installed at my house - any developments on this would be appreciated.

[chatham]

Read Savages book " the Enemy Within" Near the end of the book he recounts a real story of a public show of two men transferring body excreta from one person to another as an expression of art.
The Professor witnessed the whole filthy mess and did nothing.

[Alberta's Child]

This actually makes sense. Aside from the village of New Paltz, Ulster County is probably just as conservative as places like Wyoming and the Idaho Panhandle.

Spitzer, on the other hand, is really only the attorney general for the six or seven counties in New York that really give a rat's @ss about what he thinks.

[george wythe]

Jason West, 26-year-old Green Party mayor, was ordered to appear in court Wednesday to answer charges that he broke state law by solomizing about two dozen weddings without a marriage license, according to New Paltz police and West's lawyer.

Chief Raymond Zappone said he and a lieutenant from the town police served a 19-count summons to West Tuesday afternoon and that the mayor faces up a $500 fine and a year in jail for his actions which have attracted international attention and brought the fight over gay marriages squarely into New York.

source

[BlueNgold]

And Bill Lockyear in CA is 'amazed' that there is a recall petition for his failure to defend the law of the state. Glad to see someone out there, besides the leftists, has some huevos.

[jtminton]

What about the other six?

[FeliciaCat]

The "Mayor" is digging this....free publicity! lots of attention!

[MeekOneGOP]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,113086,00.html

N.Y. Gay-Marriage Mayor Charged With 19 Counts

Tuesday, March 02, 2004

NEW PALTZ, N.Y. — The mayor of this village was criminally charged Tuesday for marrying gay couples who did not have a license.

Jason West (search) faces 19 separate counts of solemnizing a marriage without a license, a misdemeanor under the domestic relations law, according to Ulster County District Attorney Donald Williams. Although West could face a maximum penalty of up to a year in jail, Williams said a jail term wasn't being contemplated at this point.

West performed wedding ceremonies for 25 gay couples on Friday, making him the second mayor in the country to perform same-sex marriages (search). More than 3,400 couples have been married in San Francisco.

West has insisted his actions were legal.

Williams said he believed West was served with a summons by New Paltz police that would require him to report to town court. Williams said his charges do not judge whether gay marriage is legal in New York, only that the weddings were performed without a marriage license.

West did not immediately return calls Tuesday.

State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer (search) said he will decide this week whether New York law allows gay marriage.

[PISANO]

This is the SYSTEM, whether THEY like it or NOT, this is the way it should be done. We (save SF) are a NATION of LAWS not of men, women, lesbians or gays.

[goldstategop]

Can Gavin Newsome be indicted for furthering a criminal conspiracy?