US: Colorado Attorney General asks state Supreme Court to halt same-sex marriages

Colorado Attorney General John Suthers has asked the Colorado Supreme Court to stop same-sex marriages in the state until they rule on his appeal of a lower court’s ruling that found Colorado’s ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional.

District Judge C. Scott Crabtree overturned Colorado’s same-sex marriage ban last week, but immediately put his own ruling on hold until it is backed-up by a court with greater authority. 

A judge also ruled last week in a lawsuit Suthers brought against Hillary Hall, a rouge Boulder county clerk who has been issuing same-sex marriage licenses, that Hall had the right to issue the licenses for the time being.

In response to these rulings, Suthers is asking the state Supreme Court to halt the issuance of same-sex marriage licenses until they review Crabtree’s ruling, which would help decide whether to lift Crabtree’s self-imposed hold on his own decision.

After asking the state Supreme Court to rule, Suther’s said: “It appears very likely that, either judicially or politically, Colorado is going to have same-sex marriage. But that is no excuse for abandoning the legal processes by which legal change or political change comes about.”

Denver, Pueblo, and Boulder counties are all currently issuing licenses to same-sex couples after the ruling in Hall’s case. 

• Dec 01 2023

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