Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen
The state Department of Justice has filed an appeal of a federal court ruling that struck down Wisconsin’s gay marriage ban.
The appeal deals with a court decision by U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb, who ruled that the constitutional amendment approved by voters in 2006 violated the equal protection and due process rights of gay couples. The lawsuit against the state was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, which is representing eight same-sex couples.
Crabb’s June 6 ruling resulted in a flood of same-sex marriages across the state. Before Crabb issued a stay on her decision and ordered clerks to stop issuing licenses a week after the initial ruling, more than 500 same-sex couples across the state had been married.
Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen filed the appeal with the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago.