Temporary marriage officiants - Judiciary hearing on Wednesday FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 13, 2019, Fairfield, CT. The New Hampshire House of Representatives’ Judiciary Committee is holding a public hearing on Wednesday to temporarily authorize anyone to solemnize a marriage in the state. New Hampshire has the benefit of learning from its neighbors to the south. Massachusetts has a lay-officiant rule that has caused significant problems. Beyond belittling professional JPs, it has doubled the workload for municipal clerks and created chaos for couples whose marriages were invalid. The Justice of the Peace Association submitted a white paper to MA Governor Charlie Baker’s office last week addressing the significant problems with its One-Day Solemnizer designation. The Governor appoints Justices of the Peace to perform marriages and process the legal documentation, along with oaths, depositions and other duties requiring an impartial witness. The pending bill, An Act establishing a special marriage officiant license ...
Local Organization Joins National Coalition to End Child Marriage in the United States December 14, 2018, Fairfield, CT. The Fairfield-based Justice of the Peace Association (JPus) joined the national Coalition to End Child Marriage in the United States, which launched this week in recognition of Human Rights Day. In October 2018 JPus’ membership voted overwhelmingly by 95% to join the coalition. The Coalition to End Child Marriage brings together organizations and individuals working to end all marriages of children younger than 18 in the United States. Child marriage, which happens legally in 48 states including Connecticut, destroys girls’ health, education and economic opportunities, and increases their risk of experiencing violence. It is at odds with the JPus Code of Ethics that requires officiants to act in the best interest of their clients. JPus members voiced opposition to child marriages, saying they would not feel comfortable performing them and would refuse to do so. “Our responsibility ...
Most important vow for justices of peace is the one to get key details right On June 19, 2018 the Boston Globe ran a story saying that JPs aren’t getting calls for weddings because couples are having friends and family members officiate using the state’s One-Day Solemnizer rule. JPus was concerned about this, as it mischaracterized the important legal (and professional) role that JPs have, and failed to mention all of the problems that ensue from a lay-officiant. The Boston Globe published JPus’ letter to the editor on July 9, 2018, and we’ve been in discussions with the reporter for the original piece. She has been receptive to our concerns and is working with her editor on a follow-up story. JPus Responds: To the Editor, Boston Globe The article “ ‘We are gathered here today?’ For justices of peace, trend is no.” (Page A1, June 19) missed the mark. It focused on friends and family replacing ...
The DL on JPs Posted on September 29, 2009 | 3 Comments There are no qualifications for being named a Justice of the Peace. Nor do you have to pay a fee to become a JP. It’s the perfect job, laughs Saul Haffner. The retired Westporter should know. He’s a JP himself — and perhaps the country’s foremost expert on that unique position. “In the beginning of time,” Saul says — back when he worked for the Congregation of Humanistic Judaism, not 1362 (the first time time “Justice of the Peace” appeared in English law) — he fielded calls from couples looking for rabbis to perform interfaith weddings. They were hard to find — so Saul vowed that when he retired, he would become a JP and do those ceremonies. Fun fact: Every Connecticut town is allocated a certain number of JPs, based on the number of registered voters. Westport has 60 — ...
Justices Welcome Same-Sex Marriages Saturday, October 25, 2008 By: Jennifer Sprague DURHAM - Justices of the peace from throughout the state weighed in on the issue of same-sex marriage Saturday at their annual conference, held at Durham Town Hall. Although town clerks were told by the state's Department of Public Health that Tuesday is the official release date of the court's gay-marriage decision, Ben Klein, attorney for the Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders, said Oct. 10 same-sex couples will not be able to wed until mid-November. Regardless of the effective date, town clerks have not been told when the forms will be available or if and how civil unions will be transferred to marriages. "The only thing we learned is same-sex couples can now get married," said Kim Garvis, town clerk in Durham. On the day the Connecticut Supreme Court overturned the ban on gay marriage, Garvis said Durham, ...
