No more marriage licenses in Wisconsin until further order of the court

Today’s ruling and order by Judge Crabb ends the issuance of marriage licenses until further order of the court.  The case is now on to the appeals level.  In line with her finding that Wisconsin’s constitutional amendment and related statutes denying same-sex couples the freedom to marry are unconstitutional, she provided an injunction against enforcement of the ban and laws, however she also ordered a stay of her decision.  This means we effectively go back to the way things were before her June 6 declaratory ruling.  Marriage licenses can no longer be issued to same-sex couples.  For those who applied for a license, but were not granted a waiver of the waiting period, the license cannot be completed.

In her ruling Judge Crabb stated that she was compelled by legal precedent to include the stay with her injunction, but that she didn’t find this an easy conclusion to carry out, as she wrote: “After seeing the expressions of joy on the faces of so many newly wedded couples featured in media reports, I find it difficult to impose a stay on the event that is responsible for eliciting that emotion, even if the stay is only temporary. Same-sex couples have waited many years to receive equal treatment under the law, so it is understandable that they do not want to wait any longer…”