Colorado gay marriage ban: County clerk OK'd to give gay marriage licenses
A county clerk who has been issuing聽marriage聽licenses to same-sex couples in defiance of聽Colorado's聽gay-marriage聽ban聽can continue, a judge ruled Thursday.
District Court Judge Andrew Hartman ruled earlier in the day that Boulder County Clerk Hillary Hall can ignore a federal stay on a ruling from the 10th US Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver, which found states cannot set gender requirements for聽marriage.
The judge said聽gay聽marriage聽is still technically illegal in聽Colorado聽but that Hall's behavior was not harming anyone. But he said all who receive a license should be warned that they could still be invalid if a judge finds after trial that Hall didn't have the authority to issue them.
Judge Andrew Hartman also noted that every judge 鈥� including one in聽Colorado聽the previous afternoon 鈥� in the past year has ruled that聽gay聽marriage聽bans聽are unconstitutional and that聽Colorado's聽prohibition is "hanging by a thread."
Hall has issued more than 100 same-sex聽marriage聽licenses since that ruling on June 25. Republican state Attorney General John Suthers sued Hall, the only clerk in聽Colorado聽who defied the federal stay.
Hall argued that despite the stay,聽Colorado's聽gay-marriage聽ban聽violates the U.S. Constitution.
Judges across America have issued similar rulings this year in overturning state聽bans聽on same-sex聽marriage. The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to eventually rule on the matter.
Suthers said Hall's behavior was causing "legal chaos" while the issue works its way through the courts.
Pressure is growing for聽gay聽marriage聽to be legalized in聽Colorado聽after a judge ruled Wednesday that the state's eight-year-old聽ban on it was unconstitutional.
District Judge C. Scott Crabtree on Wednesday became the 16th judge to strike down a state's聽gay聽marriage聽ban聽in the past year, but he put his ruling on hold pending an appeal. He wrote that the provisions in聽Colorado聽law clearly violate the state and U.S. constitutions. "There is no rational relationship between any legitimate governmental purpose and the聽marriage聽bans," he wrote.
The ruling will be appealed by Attorney General John Suthers' office, which defended the聽ban.
