The Pamella Giglia-Joseph Durolek nuptials were scheduled for this Saturday at Arrowhead Golf Club in Akron, New York.
But on Friday, Judge Denny Chin of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit granted the state’s emergency stay, and ruled that the marriage be suspended until a panel of appeals court judges can state the motion. belong for a stay at a later date. However, Chin did not comment on whether the wedding violated state coronavirus guidelines.
That hearing is scheduled for August 25, three days after the Giglia-Durolek wedding was set to take place, the couple’s lawyer, Tony Rupp, told CNN.
Rupp said the couple chose to postpone the wedding completely until a later date.
“Even though we won, by making that one small decision that said they would handle this later, he prevented this wedding from going forward,” he said. “We are not lost here … but by putting the decision off, we have lost. We have won every stage of this thing, and that is something frustrating.”
Rupp said Chin’s order was “bizarre” because the Second Circuit had not heard the couple’s arguments.
Giglia and Durolek did not comment. Secretary of State Andrew Cuomo’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from CNN.
State judge ruled in favor of the couple
The couple has been battling state and county officials in court over the executive order of Cuomo’s Covid-19 that limits marriages to 50 people or less.
If allowed, the Giglia-Durolek wedding could be a potential “super-spreader” event, warned State Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker in a written statement.
There was “no rational basis” for the state to treat marriages differently given the facts of the case, he ruled. Under those restaurant rules, the wedding venue would be allowed to serve a maximum of 50% capacity instead of the 50-person limit for non-essential gatherings.
The marriage of the first couple took place before New York State officials could take any legal action.
But the state tried to stop Giglia-Durolek’s marriage from taking place on August 22 by requesting a stay of Suddaby’s ruling while he sought an appeal in the Second Circuit.
In a 28-page ruling issued Wednesday, Suddaby denied that request for a stay by state and county officials.
“If the State Defendants’ argument is accepted, it would allow the State to justify almost any restriction on a person’s ability to collect, as long as COVID-19 remains a threat due to the inability to predict human behavior with certainty; and yet has the Governor allowed many companies to operate and meetings to be held just under the assumption that patrons and guests would comply with the relevant restrictions, “Judge Suddaby wrote.
New York officials filed the same request in the Second Circuit, which Judge Chin granted Friday.
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