Boulder District Judge denies Colorado AG case over same sex marriages in Boulder.

Boulder District Judge Andrew Hartman has denied the Colorado Attorney General’s suit against Boulder Country Clerk Hillary Hall to stop same sex marriages.

Read the full ruling here.

The judge stated “[t]he Court holds that the Marriage Ban violates plaintiffs’ due process and equal protection guarantees under the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution” and that the AG failed to show that there exists “a danger of real, immediate, and irreparable injury which may be prevented by injunctive relief”.

The Boulder County Clerk will continue issuing licenses according to the provisions in the decision and the Denver county clerk’s office announced that they shall begin issuing same sex marriage licenses as well.

Diana and Chöen were among those at Under the Sun in South Boulder at an event organized by Out Boulder celebrating Thursday’s district court ruling in support of Boulder County Clerk and Recorder issuing same sex marriage licenses. Hear their comments below. (photo and audio – KGNU)

Previously:

A court hearing began at 9 a.m. Wednesday July 9th,  with Boulder District Judge Andrew Hartman deciding on the suit brought by the Colorado Attorney General against Boulder County Clerk and Recorder Hillary Hall.The suit was brought after Hall ignored a request by Suthers to stop issuing marriage licenses to same sex couples and rejected a proposed compromise to jointly ask the Colorado Supreme Court to decide whether she has authority to do so.

The three-hour hearing ended with District Judge Andrew Hartman declaring he would rule on Suthers’ request for an injunction “shortly.”

The Boulder County Clerk and Recorder started issuing licenses on June 25th at the Boulder office and on June 27th in Lafayette and Longmont.  Hillary Hall cited the decision made by the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that struck down a gay marriage ban in Utah. More than 100 licenses have been issued in Boulder County since June 25th.

Out Boulder, an education and advocacy group for the LGTBQ communities in Boulder staged a rally in support of Hillary Hall in advance of the hearing. KGNU’s Miriam Schiff spoke with some of those in attendance.

In a related story, on Wednesday afternoon, an Adams County District Court judge overseeing a lawsuit challenging Colorado’s same-sex marriage ban, found the ban unconstitutional – but Adams County District Court Judge C. Scott Crabtree issued an immediate stay in the case pending appeal.  The Judge found that “a stay is necessary to avoid the instability and uncertainty which would result in the state of Colorado if the Court did not stay its ruling and for the orderly administration of justice.”  Responding to the ruling, Colorado Attorney John Suthers said that the Adams County ruling “reaffirms the fact that the fate of Colorado’s same-sex marriage law will rest with the United States Supreme Court.”