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SCRANTON, PA – A federal court in Pennsylvania yesterday approved a consent
order ending a Luzerne County official's policy of denying marriage licenses
based upon applicants’ immigration status. The order, issued in the case
of Buck v. Stankovic, makes permanent a previous court ruling holding that the
Luzerne County Register of Wills violated the constitutional rights of marriage
license applicants by requiring that they show a green card or current visa
in order to obtain a license.
The consent order follows a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties
Union, the ACLU of Pennsylvania and cooperating counsel Langer, Grogan and Diver,
P.C., in April 2007 against Dorothy Stankovic, the Register of Wills for Luzerne
County, on behalf of Pennsylvania native and U.S. citizen Heather Buck and Jose
Arias-Maravilla, a citizen of Mexico.
“This is a wonderful Valentine’s victory,” said Mary Catherine
Roper, a staff attorney with the ACLU of Pennsylvania. “In this country,
a person has the fundamental right to marry the person she loves regardless
of where her fiancé is from or what his immigration status is.”
The couple attempted to obtain a marriage license on April 17, 2007 at the Register
of Wills Office in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Buck presented her birth certificate
and photo identification, and Arias presented his birth certificate, passport
and immigration papers. They were refused the license, however, because Arias-Maravilla
did not have either a green card or a current visa.
“These proceedings underscore the basic fact that a couple’s right
to marry simply cannot be held hostage to officials’ views on immigration,”
said Omar Jadwat, an attorney with the ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project.
As part of the order, the Register of Wills has agreed to abandon the policy
of requiring immigration documentation from foreign nationals who seek a marriage
license, will publicize the change in policy, and will pay Buck and Arias-Maravilla
$10,000 in damages.
On May 1, 2007, Judge A. Richard Caputo of the United States District Court
for the Middle District of Pennsylvania ordered the Register of Wills to provide
Buck and Arias-Maravilla a marriage license, noting that Buck and Arias would
suffer “irreparable injury” if they were not allowed to marry before
Arias-Maravilla was required to return to Mexico in mid-May. The couple has
a one year-old son together.
The case, Buck v. Stankovic, was filed on behalf of the couple by Roper and
Witold “Vic” Walczak of the ACLU of Pennsylvania; Jadwat, Lucas
Guttentag and Jennifer Chang of the ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project; John
Grogan and Ned Diver of Langer and Grogan, P.C.; and Philadelphia attorney Seth
Kreimer.
Documents related to the lawsuit, including legal documents and background information,
are available online at:
www.aclupa.org/legal/legaldocket/coupledeniedmarriagelicens.htm