Colorado AG Sues County Clerk For Issuing Gay Marriage Licenses

Longtime couple Jennifer Knight, left, and Felice Cohen, right, are congratulated by Boulder County Clerk Hillary Hall after receiving a marriage license, inside the offices of the Boulder County Clerk and Recorder, ... Longtime couple Jennifer Knight, left, and Felice Cohen, right, are congratulated by Boulder County Clerk Hillary Hall after receiving a marriage license, inside the offices of the Boulder County Clerk and Recorder, in Boulder, Colo., Thursday, June 26, 2014. Hall began issuing licenses a day earlier following a federal appeals court ruling that Utah's same-sex marriage ban is unconstitutional. More couples showed up in Boulder on Thursday to get licenses. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley) MORE LESS
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

The Colorado Attorney General followed through on his threat Thursday to sue a county clerk for continuing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples after being ordered to stop.

The Associated Press reported Republican attorney general John Suthers filed the suit against Boulder County Clerk Hillary Hall. A federal judge confirmed the overturning of Utah’s gay marriage, which Hall interpreted as extending the ruling to Colorado, which also falls under the federal court’s jurisdiction.

Suthers argued that the state’s ban is still in effect and ordered Hall to stop issuing marriage licenses to gay couples, but Hall continued.

“Regretfully, our office was forced to take action against Boulder County Clerk Hillary Hall due to her refusal to follow state law,” Suthers said in a statement, per the AP. “While we would prefer not to sue a government official, Ms. Hall’s actions are creating a legal limbo for both the state and the couples whose relationships she wants to champion.”

Hall countered in her own statement that Suthers’s order would “force me to violate the fundamental rights of gay and lesbian couples who apply for a marriage license.”

This post has been updated to clarify the legal situation.

Latest Livewire
Comments
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Associate Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: