Gay California Inmates Can Marry, Prison Officials Rule

Posted: 09/04/2013 3:33 pm EDT

It's a breakthrough day for gay inmates in California, as officials say they will permit prisoners to wed their same-sex partners under certain conditions.
The Associated Press cites a Aug. 30 memo issued by Michael Stainer, director of the adult institutions division for the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitations, which indicated that the U.S. Supreme Court's June 26 decisions on the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and Proposition 8, California's voter-approved former ban on same-sex marriage, also apply to prisoners.
“Effective immediately, all institutions must accept and process applications for a same sex marriage between an inmate and a non-incarcerated person in the community, in the same manner as they do marriages between opposite sex couples," Stainer's memo reads, according to Bustle.
You can read Stainer's memo in full here.
There is one notable exemption to the rule, however. As the Sacramento Bee pointed out, the memo specified that inmates will not be permitted "at this time" to wed a same-sex partner who is also incarcerated due to "safety concerns." In addition, the nuptials themselves can only take place in prison-based settings.