UPDATE: Kansas Supreme Court Puts Off Same-Sex Marriage Hearing
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Supreme Court has indefinitely postponed a hearing on a gay-marriage case because of a federal judge's order in a separate lawsuit barring the state from enforcing its ban on same-sex marriage. The Kansas court issued an order Wednesday, a day before arguments from attorneys on a petition filed by Attorney General Derek Schmidt. The court told the parties it wants to hear from them by November 15 on whether it should continue to bar counties from issuing marriage licenses to gay couples and postpone Schmidt's case until a federal lawsuit is resolved. In the federal case, U.S. District Judge Daniel Crabtree ruled Tuesday that the state could not enforce its gay-marriage ban but stayed his decision to allow the state to appeal. The state did that Wednesday.
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KS to Fight Judge's Ruling on Same-Sex Marriage Ban
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Kansas is appealing a federal judge's order that the state must allow same-sex couples to marry pending the outcome of a lawsuit challenging the state's ban. The state attorney general's office filed a notice of appeal Wednesday. The attorney general's filing came one day after U.S. District Judge Daniel Crabtree issued a preliminary injunction barring the state from enforcing its same-sex marriage ban as of 5 pm on November 11. The enforcement delay was designed to give the state time to appeal. The American Civil Liberties Union had sued to overturn Kansas'sban after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear appeals from five states seeking to save their gay marriage bans. Among them were Oklahoma and Utah, which are in the same appeals court circuit as Kansas.