NEW PALTZ DEPUTY MAYOR CONTINUES GAY MARRIAGES: From the Associated Press

The deputy mayor and a trustee of this Hudson Valley village presided over the marriages of four same-sex couples, emboldened by the dismissal of criminal charges against the mayor for performing gay and lesbian weddings.

Deputy Mayor Rebecca Rotzler and Trustee Julia Walsh officiated at the ceremonies Thursday night, a week after Mayor Jason West was cleared of 19 misdemeanor counts of solemnizing marriages without a license.

The judge who dismissed the charges said prosecutors failed to prove the law was constitutional. West had faced the possibility of fines or up to a year in jail.

Walsh said she plans to preside over more marriages this weekend because the ruling encouraged her.

"We will not stop until all Americans have equal protection under the law," she said.

Rotzler, who has Alaskan ancestry, said her biracial parents married when it was considered illegal for them to do so.

"I have never had anything but full support for the couples who have come here knowing they will find elected officials who stand by their constitutional rights," she said.

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