The Virginia Supreme Court heard conflicting views on whether the state’s ban on gay marriages and civil unions essentially voids a Vermont court’s child visitation order in a dispute between two former lesbian partners.
The justices are reviewing a Virginia Court of Appeals ruling that Vermont has sole jurisdiction in the visitation battle between Lisa Miller of Winchester, Va., and Janet Jenkins of Fair Haven, Vt.
Miller’s attorney, Mathew Staver, argued in yesterday’s hearing that the appeals court improperly ignored a Virginia statute and a constitutional amendment that prohibit same-sex unions and the recognition of such arrangements from other states.
Jenkins’ lawyer, Joseph Price, counters that recognition of civil unions is not the issue. He says the appeals court and courts in Vermont correctly ruled that the case is governed by a federal law that says custody orders of one state must be enforced in other states.