LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) – The attorney general’s office is asking the Arkansas Supreme Court to uphold the state’s gay marriage ban, arguing a county judge was wrong to say it violated the state and U.S. constitutions.
Attorney General Dustin McDaniel’s office on Sept. 15 asked justices to uphold the 2004 constitutional amendment and an earlier state law defining marriage as between a man and a woman. Pulaski County Judge Chris Piazza struck down the ban earlier this year, and 541 same-sex couples were married before the ruling was suspended by the state Supreme Court pending appeals.
McDaniel’s office argued that a constitutional amendment cannot be ruled unconstitutional, and is arguing the state’s voters have the right to define marriage.
A group of same-sex couples is also challenging the ban in federal court.
