In the latest news in the same-sex marriage debate, the Rhode Island Supreme Court has denied a divorce petition by two Providence women who were legally married in Massachusetts in 2004. The case is believed to be among the first where a same-sex couple married in Massachusetts sought a divorce elsewhere.

The December 7 decision rested on the majority’s interpretation of the legislative intent behind the 1961 statute [Rhode Island General Laws 1956 § 8-10-3 (a)] which allows the Family Court to handle divorces. While acknowledging that words may have different meanings at different points in time, the Court noted that “[t]here is absolutely no reason to believe that, when the act creating the Family Court became law in 1961, the legislators understood the word marriage to refer to any state other than ‘the state of being united to a person of the opposite sex.’” In light of this meaning of the word “marriage,” the Supreme Court held that the Family Court was without jurisdiction to entertain a petition for divorce in the case of a same-sex union.

To date, the Rhode Island General Assembly has not spoken on the legality of same-sex marriages performed in its neighboring state of Massachusetts. The majority emphasized that the judiciary’s job is to interpret the intent of the legislature through the law as it exists, but noted that the legislature is free to “enact divorce legislation that it might possibly deem more appropriate” so as to grant relief in these circumstances.

In the absence of further judicial or legislative action, it appears that one of the parties will need to re-establish residency in Massachusetts before a divorce is possible.

The opinion may be read in its entirety at Chambers v. Ormiston, No. 06-340 (December 7, 2007) (PDF document).