Wisconsin judge puts same-sex marriages on hold

Friday, June 13, 2014

photo Demonstrators sit in front of the Portage County Courthouse on Friday, June 13, 2014, in Stevens Point, Wis., where about 50 people gathered to protest the county's refusal to issue same-sex marriage licenses.

MADISON, Wis. - Same-sex marriages have been put on hold in Wisconsin by a federal judge who last week struck down the state's gay marriage ban as unconstitutional.

U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb's ruling Friday means that gay marriages, which have been taking place across the state for a week, will end while the case is pending.

Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen requested that Crabb's ruling be put on hold. Crabb last week declared the state's ban unconstitutional but did not tell the state how to proceed. On Friday she issued an order saying the weddings are legal, but then put it on hold per Van Hollen's request.

All but 12 of Wisconsin's 72 county clerks began issuing licenses to same-sex couples after Crabb's ruling last week, even though Van Hollen had argued that was premature.