Nguyen v. Holder

Under our long-standing principles of statutory construction, I conclude that a marriage between a half uncle and half niece, or a half aunt and half nephew, is permissible in New York based on the structure of Domestic Relations Law § 5. As this Court observed in Matter of Simms (26 NY2d 163 [1970]), the legislature included language in subdivision (2) of this statute that prohibits a marriage between a brother and sister of “the half blood,” but there is no comparable clause in subdivision (3) voiding marriages between uncles and nieces or aunts and nephews. When the legislature includes a…