Without a dissenting vote, the Senate of the Maryland General Assembly, by adopting an unfavorable report, killed the civil marriage bill. That the measure would not pass the upper house had been anticipated by political observers, but a fight in support of it had been expected.
The bill was introduced in the House of Delegates by Seymour Phillips, Baltimore lawyer, and was passed by that body February 19. A similar measure introduced in the 1927 session by Mr. Phillips was killed.
The unfavorable report aced on was returned by the Judicial Proceedings Committee.
The bill would have permitted justices of the peace, as well as the clergy, to perform marriages. The measure was supported by a large number of clergymen, including rabbis, throughout Maryland, in addition to organizations of liberal thought.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
