US: Wisconsin Attorney General asks for block on potential gay marriage ruling
The Attorney General in the US state of Wisconsin has made an unusual request for a federal judge to stay any ruling she may make to strike down the state’s ban on same-sex marriage.
Attorney General JB Van Hollen on Friday filed asking District Judge Barbara Crabb to place on hold any ruling she might make to strike down the state’s same-sex marriage ban.
Van Hollen asked that the current law, banning gay and lesbian couples from marrying, be allowed to remain in place while he files an appeal.
Some have taken the filing to mean that Van Hollen expects Judge Crabb to strike down the ban.
The American Civil Liberties Union previously asked Judge Crabb to suspend the ban via a preliminary injunction as part of its legal challenge – a request she declined.
The ACLU filed the lawsuit in February on behalf of eight couples, stating that same-sex couples are denied equal treatment afforded to married couples under the law.
Since she declined their request warning that any injunction could quickly be overturned on procedural grounds.
In 2006, voters in Wisconsin approved a referendum banning same-sex marriage.
