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2007 New Jersey Attorney General Reports and Opinions 1 (2007)

handle is hein.sag/sagnj0007 and id is 1 raw text is: State of New Jersey
JON S. CoRZINE            OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL    STUART RABNER
Governor              DEPARTMENT OF LAW AND PUBLIC SAFETY  Attorney General
DivisIoN OF LAW
25 MARKET STREET             ROBERT J. GILSON
PO Box 112                    Director
TRENTON, NJ 08625-0112
January 10, 2007
Joseph Komosinski
State Registrar of Vital Statistics
Health and Agriculture Building
P.O. Box 360
Trenton, New Jersey 08625-0360
Formal Opinion No. 1-2007
Re: Whether    Public  Officials   and
Religious Figures May Decline to
Exercise   their   Authority   to
Solemnize Civil Unions
Dear Mr. Komosinski:
On December 21, 2006, I provided advice to you regarding
whether public officials may refuse to solemnize civil unions, once
the statute authorizing civil unions becomes effective. A related
question has arisen regarding whether religious figures, that is
priests, ministers, rabbis, imams, and other religious officiants
(hereinafter members of the clergy or religious figures) may
refuse to solemnize civil unions based on sincerely held religious
beliefs. The legal analysis and conclusions regarding these two
categories of individuals authorized to solemnize marriages and
civil unions differs.   I, therefore, wish to provide you with
comprehensive advice on the questions noted above, which includes
a reiteration of my December 21, 2006 advice.
You were previously advised that although public
officials can decline to exercise their authority to solemnize
marriages and civil unions entirely, if a public official elects to
be available generally for the purpose of solemnizing marriages,

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