ADF attorneys filed friend-of-the-court briefs in August explaining to R.I. high court that divorce is not legally possible for non-marital relationships

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — In a case involving two women seeking to “divorce” one another, the Supreme Court of Rhode Island ruled Friday that the term “marriage,” according to state law, means a union between one man and one woman. Therefore, the lower state court did not have the authority to consider a petition for a same-sex “divorce.”

The two women in the case, Margaret Chambers and Cassandra Ormiston, both residents of Rhode Island, traveled across the state to Massachusetts in May 2004 and obtained a “marriage” license there. The couple subsequently petitioned the Rhode Island courts for a “divorce.”

The Supreme Court of Rhode Island expressed in its ruling, “The role of the judicial branch is not to make policy, but simply to determine the legislative intent as expressed in the statues enacted by the General Assembly.”

“Not only is today’s ruling a victory for marriage, it’s also a tremendous step forward against judicial activism,” said Nimocks. “Rhode Island’s highest court acknowledged that it is the role of the legislature, and not the judiciary, to establish public policy.”