PHILADELPHIA (AP) – A same-sex couple ordered to steer clear of each other after their release from prison because they are felons may resume contact, a federal judge has ruled.

The men are entitled to the same treatment as people “in other kinds of family relationships,” U.S. District Judge Marvin Katz wrote.

Daniel Mangini and Steven Roberts, a couple for 20 years, each served time in prison for dealing methamphetamine. They are currently serving five years of federal probation, which comes with a ban on contact with other felons who are not spouses or blood relatives. The ban, had it been upheld, would mean the pair could not visit, phone or even e-mail each other for several years.

“It’s fair to say we’re not role models, but that doesn’t mean we should have less rights than anybody else,” Mangini told The Philadelphia Inquirer in a story published Tuesday. “We weren’t going to take it without a fight.”

Lawyer Leslie Cooper of the American Civil Liberties Union, who represents them, believes the ruling could prove as significant as the 2003 U.S. Supreme Court decision in a Texas case that struck down sodomy laws.

“It’s important that the court recognizes that same-sex couples are entitled to the same protection of their relationships as heterosexual couples enjoy,” said Cooper, staff attorney for the ACLU’s Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender and AIDS Project.

Prosecutors do not plan to appeal Katz’s July 31 decision, Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert A. Zauzmer said. They had argued that the men be allowed only gradual, supervised contact to avoid “whatever temptations and mistakes” had led to their crimes.

Mangini, 42, a former retail executive, and Roberts, 43, shared a South Philadelphia row house in the early 1990s, enjoying what Mangini calls “an Ozzie and Harriet life.”

They raised Roberts’ niece, who was in foster care, for several years, but resumed going to nightclubs when she left, they said. That lifestyle led to their methamphetamine addiction and cost both men their jobs, they said.

In 2004, each pleaded guilty to drug possession with the intent to sell. Roberts, the principal dealer, was sentenced to 30 months in prison and Mangini to 18 months.

Mangini was released in June 2005 and was diagnosed two months later with AIDS. Roberts, released in June 2006, remains healthy.

Despite the legal victory, the men plan to reconnect gradually before moving back in together. Each now lives with a relative in the Philadelphia suburbs.