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Palm Beach becomes 4th Fla. county to declare marriage ban unconstitutional

Palm Beach becomes 4th Fla. county to declare marriage ban unconstitutional
Palm Beach, Fla,
Palm Beach, Fla, Michael Kagdis

A Palm Beach County, Fla., Circuit Court judge on Tuesday issued a ruling declaring Florida’s ban on same sex marriage unconstitutional, the fourth such ruling in under three weeks.

The Palm Beach Post reports that Circuit Judge Diana Lewis’ opinion comes in a probate case surrounding the death of Frank Bangor, a man who owned property in Florida and married W. Jason Simpson in Delaware, where same-sex marriage is legal.

The ruling applies only to the parties in the case; there will be no order for clerks to issue licenses, and no stay has been issued.

Lewis’ ruling comes just one day after a judge in Broward County issued a similar opinion in a lesbian couple’s divorce case.

Judges in Monroe and Miami-Dade counties have also declared the state’s same-sex marriage ban unconstitutional. Those ruling came in direct challenges to the ban by couples seeking recognition of their out-of-state marriages and the right to marry in Florida. All three ruling are on hold pending appeals by the state.

The Palm Beach ruling is here.

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