ACLU is suing to sanctify vows

0 Comments | Philadelphia Inquirer, The, February, 2008 | by Dianna Marder Inquirer Staff Writer

The ACLU of Pennsylvania yesterday filed lawsuits in Philadelphia, Bucks and Montgomery Counties seeking to validate the marriages of couples whose wedding ceremonies were performed by ministers ordained online. The suits are part of a planned statewide challenge to developments that endanger the status of potentially thousands of marriages in Pennsylvania.

On Sept. 9, York County Court Judge Maria Musti Cook ruled that the 2006 marriage of Dorie Heyer and Jacob Hollerbush was invalid because their officiant, ordained by the Universal Life Church, was unqualified. Cook ruled that the officiant did not regularly preach in a church or to an established congregation. The estranged couple had sought the invalidation in lieu of divorce. Cook's ruling was not binding in other...