Formerly jailed gay couple allowed contact with each other

In a decision handed down Wednesday in Philadelphia, a gay couple jailed for selling drugs will be allowed contact with each other while they serve out supervised releases.

It's customary for the U. S. Probation Office to bar people from associating with other felons while on supervised release, but it ordinarily makes exceptions for close family members. Steven Roberts and Daniel Mangini were denied their request to be together during their probationary period, however, because their relationship was not heterosexual, according to the American Civil Liberties Union, which represented the two men in their lawsuit against the probation department.

When Mangini learned the good news, he promptly contacted partner Roberts. Until that moment, Mangini had been barred from speaking with Roberts for more than a year.

"This opens possibilities,” Mangini said. “Finally we get to resume our lives together and dream for the future."

The couple, together for 20 years, owned property jointly and raised Roberts’s niece to adulthood but later became addicted to meth. When Roberts and Mangini were charged with selling the drug, they pled not guilty and each received a sentence of imprisonment, followed by five years of supervised release, according to a statement.

Initially, Judge Marvin Katz sided with the federal probation department in keeping the men apart, but the U.S. court of appeals for the third circuit reversed the decision, demanding that Katz coordinate further proceedings. At a hearing Tuesday before the judge, the couple confirmed their commitment to each other, also mentioning their addiction recovery. On Wednesday, Katz overturned his original ruling, citing the landmark Supreme Court ruling Lawrence v. Texas, which confirmed that same-sex couples have the same right to form intimate relationships as opposite-sex couples.

"This is truly a great day for our clients, who have been barred from having any contact with each other for more than a year," said Mary Catherine Roper, a staff attorney with the ACLU of Pennsylvania. "By honoring their commitment to each other and fighting to be together, Dan and Steven have helped to bring about groundbreaking law requiring equal treatment for same-sex couples." (The Advocate)