Gov. Chris Christie instead proposed putting more restrictions on New Jersey’s current law, which allows 16- and 17-year-olds to obtain marriage licenses with parental consent. | AP Photo Ban on child marriages conditionally vetoed by Christie

Gov. Chris Christie on Thursday conditionally vetoed a bill (A3091) that would have banned outright all marriages for minors in New Jersey.

Instead, the governor proposed putting more restrictions on New Jersey’s current law, which allows 16- and 17-year-olds to obtain marriage licenses with parental consent, and grants them to those under 16 with a family court judge’s permission.


“I agree that protecting the well-being, dignity, and freedom of minors is vital, but the severe bar this bill creates is not necessary to address the concerns voiced by the bill’s proponents and does not comport with the sensibilities and, in some cases, the religious customs, of the people of this State,” Christie said in his veto message.

The top sponsor of the measure was Republican Assemblywoman Nancy Munoz, who said at a committee hearing last year that she introduced it bill after hearing “compelling” stories of minors forced into marriages for religious reasons. The bill passed the Assembly and Senate with overwhelming support.

Fraidy Reiss, executive director of the Westfield-based nonprofit Unchained At Last, told an Assembly committee last year that almost 3,500 marriages involving at least one partner under 18 took place in New Jersey from 1995 to 2012. Of those, 163 involved at least one spouse 15 or younger. Most were religious arranged marriages.

“The shocking truth is that child marriage is legal right now in New Jersey, and it’s shocking that thousands of children have been married here recently, most of them minor girls married to adult men,” Reiss told the committee.

But some anti-abortion politicians and activists said some pregnant teens should be able to marry so a baby is born in wedlock.

Instead of an outright ban, Christie proposed a ban on all marriages for minors under 16, and requiring judicial consent for marriage between 16- and 17-year-olds.

“It is disingenuous to hold that a 16-year-old may never consent to marriage, although New Jersey law permits the very same 16-year-old to consent to sex or obtain an abortion without so much as parental knowledge, let alone consent,” Christie wrote. “That inconsistency in logic undercuts the alleged logic of an outright ban.

Munoz said she was “disappointed” by the conditional veto and hasn’t decided what to do going forward. The Legislature can accept Christie’s recommendations, let the bill die or attempt an override, which it has never accomplished during the Christie administration.

Munoz said she wants to speak with Reiss, who was the main advocate for the bill, as well as state Sen. Nellie Pou, its sponsor in the upper house.

In his veto message, Christie noted that no states completely ban marriages for minors.

“I thought it was a good bill," she said. "I thought it was OK to be first in the country on this.”

UPDATE: This story has been updated with comments from Assemblywoman Nancy Munoz.

