PITTSBURGH, Sept. 24 (UPI) -- A Pennsylvania couple is suing the Allegheny County register of wills for barring them from getting married without a preacher or judge officiating.
When Mary Jo Knelly and David Huggins-Daines chose to have their loved ones -- and not an officiant -- serve as witnesses to their union, the Allegheny County register of wills told them that only Quakers and members of the Baha’i faith -- which do not have clergy -- could conduct such ceremonies, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported Sunday.
Knelly and Huggins-Daines filed a lawsuit last week arguing that the rules on self-unions violate the First Amendment prohibition against favoring one religion over another.
In a letter sent to the couple's attorney last week, Timothy E. Finnerty -- solicitor for the register of wills -- said the statute is merely an exception that allows members of clergyless faiths to marry without violating the ban on self unions, the newspaper said.
A hearing date for the suit has not yet been set.
