TRUMBULL COUNTY Judge sets hearing on marriage

A hearing will be Nov. 5 to determine if a marriage license should be granted.
By PEGGY SINKOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- An Ohio driver's license and a valid birth certificate say Jacob B. Nash is a man, but that may not be enough proof for Judge Thomas Swift.
Judge Swift issued a four-page ruling Wednesday that he wants to hold a hearing Nov. 5 to determine if Nash, a transsexual who was born a female, and Erin A. Barr of Howland should be issued a marriage license.
This is the couple's second marriage application. The couple filed their first application in August, but last month Judge Swift denied that request because Nash failed to disclose that he had been previously married. The judge stated he found Nash's explanation that he forgot to list the previous marriage "not convincing."
The couple filled out another marriage application Wednesday. When filling out the application Nash showed his Ohio driver's license to prove his identity.
"The court finds that the designation of sex on an Ohio driver's license is not necessarily determinative of a person's sex for the purpose of marriage, under the laws of the state of Ohio," Judge Swift's ruling states.
Nash has said he also has an amended birth certificate stating he is a man.
Refused to answer questions
The judge also noted in his ruling Wednesday that during a Sept. 5 hearing on the first marriage application, under the advice of counsel, Nash refused to answer questions about operations he may have had.
Neither the couple nor their attorneys, Deborah A. Smith and Randi Barnabee, could be reached to comment.
Smith and Barnabee say a license should be granted because Nash has an amended birth certificate from Massachusetts that states Nash is a man.
Smith also has argued that state law says that to get a marriage certificate, one person must show proof of being male and the other must show proof of being female.
sinkovich@vindy.com