Colorado Attorney General John Suthers is asking the state Supreme Court to settle the fate of Colorado’s gay marriage ban.
Last Wednesday, District Court Judge C. Scott Crabtree ruled the 2006 voter-approved ban violates the state and federal constitutions. Though the judge stayed his decision, multiple county clerks across the state began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
“The underlying question of whether our laws will stand or fall is now in the Colorado Supreme Court’s hands, and we hope it or the U.S. Supreme Court will resolve the question expeditiously,” Suthers says. “We have sought to bring resolution to these issues as quickly as possible, and this is another important step in doing so.”
The attorney general's office says Coloradans "deserve better than the chaotic legal uncertainty last week’s events have given them." The AG has asked the Supreme Court to stop county clerks from issuing more same-sex licenses while the issue is considered.
"I understand and appreciate the sense of inevitability that Colorado will have same-sex marriage, either politically or judicially," Suthers says. "But I also believe that respecting the political and judicial processes by which legal changes take place in this country is extremely important."
"Procedurally and really substantively, the state has again lost in its effort to keep same-sex marriages from happening in this state," attorney Tom Russell said. He's representing one of the gay couples who are suing to overturn the marriage laws.
