A same sex marriage ceremony outside Madison’s City County Building. (File Photo: WRN)
Wisconsin’s attorney general is asking the US Supreme Court to weigh in on a legal battle over Wisconsin’s gay marriage ban.
Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen filed a petition Tuesday with the nation’s highest court, asking the court to reverse rulings that struck down Wisconsin’s 2006 constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. The move comes less than a week after the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago upheld a decision by US District Judge Barbara Crabb, who ruled in June that’s the state’s ban is unconstitutional.
Wisconsin is just the latest of several states to ask the US Supreme Court to weigh in on the issue. It remains unclear how soon the court will respond to the requests. Same-sex marriages do remain on hold in the state, while the appeal works its way through the system.
The lawsuit was brought to federal court in February by multiple same sex couples represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, who argue the state’s ban violates their constitutional rights. ACLU Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender Project director James Esseks says “it’s crystal clear that the Court needs to take up the freedom to marry issue again. Same-sex couples from every corner of the country are affected, and the high court has the opportunity to end the harm caused by these discriminatory and unconstitutional marriage bans.”