A federal judge appointed by Ronald Reagan has decided to expand a case involving recognition of marriages performed outside the state of Louisiana to include all same-sex couples who wish to marry in the Pelican State.
United States District Court Judge Martin Feldman today announced that he will expand the parameters of a case before him, and will decide if same-sex couples have the right to marry in the state of Louisiana. After about 90 minutes of arguments, Feldman reportedly summonsed both sides to the bench and announced the true nature of the case was not whether Louisiana should recognize out-of-state same-sex marriages, but whether same-sex couples should be allowed to marry in the state.
“I feel uncomfortable resolving some issues one way or the other and not all issues one way or another,†Feldman told attorneys for both sides, according to Louisiana newspaper The Advocate.
Judge Feldman, according to the Times-Picayune, “told attorneys and observers who packed his courtroom Wednesday morning that it would only be fair to the parties involved in the cases and the public that he rules on the gay marriage questions in one decision, instead of handing down ‘piecemeal’ rulings.Â
President Ronald Reagan appointed Feldman, who was born in 1934, to the federal bench in 1983. In addition to serving as a judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, Judge Feldman is a Judge of the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.
The New Civil Rights Movement’s own Derek Penton-Robicheaux is one of the plaintiffs in the case.