MASS. GOVERNOR WANTS ATTY. GENERAL TO PROBE OUT-OF-STATE SSM: From the Boston Herald

Gov. Mitt Romney is moving, as promised, to prevent out-of-state gays from marrying in Massachusetts.

He's asking Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly to investigate 10 cases where local clerks allowed same-sex couples from other states to apply for marriage licenses.

Coming fast on the historic onset of gay marriage last Monday, Romney's crackdown is in response to public defiance by Provincetown, Somerville, Worcester and Springfield, which ignored his orders to refuse licenses to such couples. ...

The governor said the applications identified as illegal would not be recorded at the Registry of Vital Statistics.

Romney has insisted on enforcement of a 1913 law that bans people from marrying here if it would not be legal in their home states.

The targeted couples are from Connecticut, New York, Rhode Island, Maine, Vermont, New Jersey, California and Ohio--and said so on their applications. None returned messages yesterday. ...

Gay activists threatened a legal challenge.

"(Romney) keeps acting more and more like not just a religious zealot, but a big brother religious zealot," said lobbyist Arline Isaacson. ...

Springfield Clerk William Metzger said he would feel "bound" to stop issuing licenses to out-of-state couples if Reilly insists.

But, Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone pursued open defiance--saying his lawyers would fight any cease-and-desist order. ...

Provincetown officials said they expected to follow suit. Worcester officials did not return calls.

Romney said he did not expect Reilly to take "punitive" actions against the couples--only "corrective" measures against clerks.

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posted by Eve at 11:20 PM | link

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