Colorado Attorney General John Suthers
has lost another bid to force Boulder County Clerk Hillary Hall to
stop issuing marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples.
On Thursday, a Colorado appeals court
denied Suthers' plea for a stay in a lower court's order allowing
Hall to continue issuing the licenses.
The three-judge appeals court panel
said Suthers had not “established the factors required to grant the
requested relief.”
Hall began issuing the licenses after
the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver upheld a lower court's
ruling striking down Utah's constitutional amendment limiting
marriage to heterosexual unions.
The federal appeals court's
jurisdiction includes Colorado and Hall cited the ruling in
explaining her actions. Two county clerks followed Hall's lead but
Suthers shut them down.
Suthers turned to the appeals court
after District Court Judge Andrew Harman twice refused to order Hall
to stop.
In recent weeks, state and federal
judges have struck down Colorado's ban as unconstitutional.
(Related: Colorado
AG John Suthers appeals gay marriage ruling.)