Although it might appear overly technical, the news coverage of the New York Court of Appeals’ transfer of two appeals concerning the constitutionality of same-sex marriage is misleading (see this article in the New York Times (free registration required) and this headline in New York Newsday).

The Court of Appeals’ jurisdiction is extremely narrow as set forth in the New York Constitution and civil procedure.  The Court’s transfer of these appeals — Hernandez v. Robles and Samuels v. New York State Dep’t of Health — was purely a determination as to Court’s lack of jurisdiction under the New York Constitution art. IV, sec. 3[b][2] and CPLR 5601[b][2] (see decision list here).

Therefore, to cast the determination as a "refusal" appears to imply that the Court had a choice whether to entertain the appeals — a conclusion that is inacurrate.