Langan v. St. Vincent's Hospital

Fisher, J. (dissenting).

The majority’s forceful defense of the Legislature’s prerogative to define what constitutes a marriage in New York seems to me to miss the point. This case is not about marriage. The plaintiff does not claim to have been married to the decedent, and clearly he was not, either under the laws of New York or in the eyes of Vermont.

What this case is about is the operation of a single statute— New York’s wrongful death statute—that controls access to the courts for those seeking compensation for the loss of a pecuni*96ary expectancy created and guaranteed by law. The statute…