Nov 21, 2003
WWW.GUILFORDIAN.COM
NH Supreme Court rules homosexual sex is not adultery
Taleisha Bowen
Associate Editor
New Hampshire, neighbor
to now the only two states that
permit civil unions between
gay couples, has decreed that
gay sex doesn't count.
David Blanchflower attempt
ed to divorce his wife Sian on
the grounds that she had
cheated on him - with another
woman, Robin Mayer.
A New Hampshire Family
Court Justice, John Peter Cyr,
ruled that the legal definition
of adultery should encompass
same-gender sexual relations
and granted the divorce to Mr.
Blanchflower earlier this year.
The ruling was appealed, and
the case made it to the state's
Supreme Court. On Nov 7,
the judges ruled that this is
not a case of adultery.
Bay Windows, a northeast
newspaper dedicated to gay
Katie Elliott
Features Editor
Massachusetts' Supreme
Court Rules Gay Marriage
Ban Unconstitutional
Massachusetts' highest
court ruled Tuesday that the
state cannot deny gay and
lesbian couples the right to
marry, though the court
stopped short of allowing mar
riage licenses to be issued.
The Supreme Judicial Court's
4-3 ruling ordered the state
Legislature to come up with a
solution within 180 days. This
landmark ruling closely
resembles the Vermont
Supreme Court's decision in
1999, which !ed to its
Legislature's 2000 approval of
civil unions, which allow
same-sex couples many of
the rights and benefits of mar
WORLD AND NATION
and lesbian issues, reports
that N.H. divorce laws do not
define adultery. Instead, the
five Supreme Court judges
turned to the Webster's Third
New International Dictionary,
which defines adultery as
"sexual intercourse between a
married man and someone
other than his wife or between
a married woman and some
one other than her husband."
The high court also cited
case law from the 1800s in
which criminal adultery was
defined as "intercourse from
which spurious issue may
arise."
"As 'spurious issues'" -
meaning illegitimate birth -
"can only arise from inter
course between a man and a
woman, criminal adultery
could only be committed with
a person of the opposite gen
der," the court concluded,
states Bay Windows.
"The modern definition of
World news in brief
riage.The decision has drawn
both celebration and fury, and
some state officials, including
Gov. Mitt Romney, have
called for an amendment to
the Mass. Constitution defin
ing marriage as a union
between a man and a woman.
At Least 17 Kiiied in
Helicopter Crash
Two U.S. Blackhawk helicop
ters collided in mid-air
Saturday night and crashed In
a residential area of Mosul,
Iraq, killing at least 17
American soldiers and
wounding five. According to
American officials, the colli
sion occurred when one of the
helicopters swerved to avoid
hostile fire from the ground.
The crash is the largest single
loss of American life since
major combat ended in May
and came only hours after the
death of a soldier in Baghdad
adultery needs to be rede
fined, "said senior Phillip
Wright, who is from New
Hampshire.
Sex, apparently, is not just
vaginal intercourse these
days.
States including New
Jersey, Georgia, South
Carolina, and Florida have all
redefined adultery to include
homosexual sex. A N.J. court
said that adultery occurs
when a spouse engages in a
"personal, intimate sexual
relationship with any other
person, irrespective of the
specific sexual acts per
formed, the marital status, or
the gender of the third party,"
Foxnews.com reports.
The Associated Press
relates that the court's ration
ale behind the decision was
that they "did not want the
New Hampshire courts to step
onto the slippery slope of
defining which sex acts out
brought the number of U.S.
troops killed to 400. The heli
copters are the fourth and fifth
that have gone down in the
last month.
Alabama's Chief Justice
Removed from Office
On Nov. 13, a special court
ordered the removal of
Alabama's suspended Chief
Justice, Roy S. Moore. The
nine-member court unani
mously found that he had
committed ethical breaches in
a nationally publicized dispute
over church and state. Moore
was suspended from office in
August and charged with six
separate ethical breaches. He
flouted a federal court order to
remove a 5,280-pound gran
ite monument of the Ten
Commandments that he had
installed in the lobby of the
State Supreme Court.
25 Killed in Istanbul
side of intercourse might
amount to adultery," the court
said.
"This standard would permit
a hundred different judges ...
to decide just what individual
acts are so sexually intimate
as to meet the definition."
In New Hampshire, adultery
is one of a handful of reasons
that a court can use to grant
an at-fault divorce. This
affects the settlement
between the parties, and with
Ms. Blanchflower not at fault,
Mr. Blanchflower will be
forced to file for divorce on the
grounds of irreconcilable dif
ferences - with neither party
at fault.
The case has been in the
news off and on since the
petition was filed.
Foxnews.com carries a story
in its archives from April 23
explaining that Mayer pointed
out the oversight in N.H. law,
Synagogue Bombings
A pair of nearly simultaneous
truck bombs exploded last
Saturday morning outside two
synagogues in Istanbul, killing
at least 25 people, including
the two bombers, and wound
ing over 300. One detonated
outside the city's largest syna
gogue, the Neve Shalom, dur
ing a bar mitzvah celebration;
the second hit the new Beth
Israel, two miles away. The
blasts cut off electricity for
blocks around the two syna
gogues and heavily damaged
both neighborhoods. Though
the government initially
blamed "international terror
ists" for the attack, Turkey said
Tuesday that two suicide
bombers were Turkish citizens
with links to al Qaeda.
D.C. Sniper ConvictedOn
Nov. 17, a jury in Virginia
GREENSBORO, NC
believing them to be biased
against homosexuals. Mayer
is taking advantage of the
loophole to withdraw from the
bitter divorce case. She is
named as a third party in the
suit.
"There is law, and then there
is justice," said Wright. "Just
because [Blanchflower] didn't
break the law doesn't mean
that her husband is receiving
justice."
Sophomore Jenna Neason
from Georgia, who is Vice-
President of Guilford PRIDE,
agrees. "In light of the recent
law abolishing sodomy laws
across the nation, it seems
like courts are finding new
ways to discriminate against
homosexuals," she said.
"They're saying that it's okay
for [gays] to have sex, but
now they're saying it doesn't
count."
Beach, VA convicted John
Allen Muhammad of murder
In last year's serial sniper
slayings in the Wash, D.C.
area. Muhammad was con
victed on two counts of capi
tal murder, one for commit
ting multiple murders in a
three-year period, and the
other for the killing of Dean
H. Meyers. He was also
found guilty of charges of
conspiracy to commit murder
and the illegal use of a
firearm. The jury deliberated
less than seven hours and
immediately reconvened to
decide whether Muhammad
will be executed or given life
in prison. Lee Malvo, 18, who
was arrested with Mr.
Muhammad on Oct. 24,
2002, is on trial in nearby
Chesapeake on charges that
he participated in the killings.
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