Colorado ruling due on gay vows

Judge to void law, hears case for, against staying decision

DENVER -- Gay couples seeking to strike Colorado's same-sex marriage ban urged a federal judge on Tuesday to overturn the law immediately and reject the state's request to stay a ruling until the U.S. Supreme Court decides the matter.

U.S. District Judge Raymond Moore indicated Tuesday that the injunction sought by gay couples declaring Colorado's law unconstitutional is certain to be granted. But he said he was trying to decide whether his ruling should be put on hold.

Colorado Republican Attorney General John Suthers is not opposing the injunction but wants it to be stayed until the nation's highest court decides the issue. However, the attorney for the gay couples told the judge repeatedly that "justice delayed is justice denied."

The judge says he is going to issue a ruling today.

At the outset of Tuesday's hearing, Moore pointed out that Utah's gay marriage ban is still in effect even though a Denver-based federal appeals court has ruled against it. The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals put its decision on hold while it's appealed to the Supreme Court.

Mari Newman, one of the attorneys filing suit on behalf of the six couples, said they oppose Suthers' request for a stay.

"Plaintiffs vehemently oppose the state's continuing effort to deny their fundamental constitutional right to marry," Newman said.

The lawsuit alleges that the state's same-sex marriage ban violates due-process and equal-protection rights guaranteed in the U.S. Constitution.

Colorado voters approved the same-sex marriage ban in 2006, but several recent court rulings have given gay-rights advocates hope that the state's law is on the verge of being overturned.

Clerks in Boulder, Denver, and Pueblo counties already have issued licenses to gay couples after court rulings saying same-sex marriage bans are unconstitutional. However, the Colorado Supreme Court last week ordered Denver to stop while the state ban remains in place, and the Pueblo clerk stopped Monday because of that ruling.

The state's attorney general applauded Pueblo's decision.

"No matter one's views on the issue of same-sex marriage, the Supreme Court of Colorado has made clear that until it has had a chance to rule on the merits, clerks must enforce the state's laws, which are still in effect," the attorney general's office said in a statement.

The state Supreme Court ruling did not apply to Boulder's clerk, however. A district judge ruled in the clerk's favor this month, allowing same-sex marriage licenses to continue to be issued. Clerk Hillary Hall has issued 172 licenses to same-sex couples over the past month. She began issuing the licenses in late June after the 10th Circuit ruled on Utah's ban, saying states cannot prevent people from marrying based on their gender.

More than 20 courts have issued rulings siding with gay marriage advocates since the Supreme Court's ruling last year striking down a portion of the federal Defense of Marriage Act. The majority of those rulings have been put on hold during the appeals process.

A Section on 07/23/2014

Upcoming Events