Post by SoonDragon67 on May 12, 2014 17:12:08 GMT -5
www.nytimes.com/2014/05/13/us/arkansas-seeks-stay-of-ruling-that-overturned-same-sex-marriage-ban.html?_r=0
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — The Arkansas attorney general, Dustin McDaniel, asked the state’s highest court on Monday to suspend a judge’s ruling striking down the state’s ban on same-sex marriage.
Mr. McDaniel asked the Arkansas Supreme Court to stay a ruling last week by Judge Chris Piazza of the Pulaski County Circuit Court that a 2004 constitutional amendment and a 1997 law banning same-sex marriage are unconstitutional. Dozens of gay and lesbian couples have received marriage licenses since Judge Piazza’s ruling was issued late Friday afternoon.
Mr. McDaniel, a Democrat, said he supported same-sex marriage but has vowed to continue defending the ban because he believes it is his duty to do so.
Earlier on Monday, couples lined up before dawn outside Little Rock’s courthouse as Pulaski County, the state’s most populous county, began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples in the wake of Friday’s ruling.
The Pulaski County clerk’s office issued its first marriage license to a same-sex couple shortly after 8 a.m. on Monday. Fifteen same-sex couples obtained marriage licenses on Saturday in the tourist town of Eureka Springs.
As some clerks began issuing licenses, the head of a gay rights group, the Human Rights Campaign, said the organization would seek federal recognition of same-sex couples married in Arkansas. The president of the group, Chad Griffin, said the Department of Justice had been asked to recognize the unions. A similar move was extended to Utah couples who married before a ruling was delayed.
The first license in Little Rock went to Shelly Butler, 51, and Susan Barr, 48, of Dallas, who have been together since they met at Southern Arkansas University in 1985.
“When we heard the news in Arkansas, we had to jump in the car to get here,” Ms. Butler said shortly before receiving the license. “I’m just excited to marry my best friend of almost 30 years, finally.”
The second couple to receive a license were Thomas Baldwin, 37, and Devin Rudeseal, 24. The Bryant couple quickly married in the courthouse, and Mr. Rudeseal planned to take a final exam at the University of Arkansas, Little Rock, later Monday.
Mr. McDaniel had asked Judge Piazza to suspend his ruling. When Judge Piazza did not issue a stay, the state’s 75 county clerks were left to decide whether to grant marriage licenses. That caused confusion, said Chris Villines, the executive director of the Association of Arkansas Counties.
Several Arkansas counties have refused to issue same-sex marriage licenses, saying the Arkansas Supreme Court must weigh in.
“With all due respect to the Third Division Circuit Court of Pulaski County, a circuit court does not establish or strike down statewide law,” the Faulkner County civil attorney, David Hogue, said in a statement on Sunday. “That would be the role of the state Supreme Court.”
The United States Supreme Court last year ruled that a law forbidding the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages was unconstitutional.
Mr. McDaniel asked the Arkansas Supreme Court to stay a ruling last week by Judge Chris Piazza of the Pulaski County Circuit Court that a 2004 constitutional amendment and a 1997 law banning same-sex marriage are unconstitutional. Dozens of gay and lesbian couples have received marriage licenses since Judge Piazza’s ruling was issued late Friday afternoon.
Mr. McDaniel, a Democrat, said he supported same-sex marriage but has vowed to continue defending the ban because he believes it is his duty to do so.
Earlier on Monday, couples lined up before dawn outside Little Rock’s courthouse as Pulaski County, the state’s most populous county, began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples in the wake of Friday’s ruling.
The Pulaski County clerk’s office issued its first marriage license to a same-sex couple shortly after 8 a.m. on Monday. Fifteen same-sex couples obtained marriage licenses on Saturday in the tourist town of Eureka Springs.
As some clerks began issuing licenses, the head of a gay rights group, the Human Rights Campaign, said the organization would seek federal recognition of same-sex couples married in Arkansas. The president of the group, Chad Griffin, said the Department of Justice had been asked to recognize the unions. A similar move was extended to Utah couples who married before a ruling was delayed.
The first license in Little Rock went to Shelly Butler, 51, and Susan Barr, 48, of Dallas, who have been together since they met at Southern Arkansas University in 1985.
“When we heard the news in Arkansas, we had to jump in the car to get here,” Ms. Butler said shortly before receiving the license. “I’m just excited to marry my best friend of almost 30 years, finally.”
The second couple to receive a license were Thomas Baldwin, 37, and Devin Rudeseal, 24. The Bryant couple quickly married in the courthouse, and Mr. Rudeseal planned to take a final exam at the University of Arkansas, Little Rock, later Monday.
Mr. McDaniel had asked Judge Piazza to suspend his ruling. When Judge Piazza did not issue a stay, the state’s 75 county clerks were left to decide whether to grant marriage licenses. That caused confusion, said Chris Villines, the executive director of the Association of Arkansas Counties.
Several Arkansas counties have refused to issue same-sex marriage licenses, saying the Arkansas Supreme Court must weigh in.
“With all due respect to the Third Division Circuit Court of Pulaski County, a circuit court does not establish or strike down statewide law,” the Faulkner County civil attorney, David Hogue, said in a statement on Sunday. “That would be the role of the state Supreme Court.”
The United States Supreme Court last year ruled that a law forbidding the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages was unconstitutional.
