SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

SENATE, No. 1376

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED: DECEMBER 16, 1996

      The Senate Judiciary Committee reports favorably Senate Bill No. 1376.

      This bill provides that marriages between persons of the same sex are prohibited and void in New Jersey. The bill also provides that a marriage solemnized in any other county, state or territory, if valid where solemnized, is valid here unless it is a marriage that would be prohibited and declared void in this State pursuant to R.S.37:1-1 (which would include same sex marriages) or R.S.37:1-10 concerning New Jersey's policy of not recognizing common law marriages.