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Federal Court Judge Strikes Down Colorado's Ban On Same-Sex Marriage

Moore, an Obama appointee, affirmed a lower court's ruling that also declared the ban unconstitutional. Last week Judge C. Scott Crabtree ruled that "the marriage bans violate plaintiffs’ due process and equal-protection guarantees under the Fourteenth Amendments."

Related: District Court Judge Strikes Down Colorado Marriage-Equality Ban

As expected, Moore stayed his ruling—through August 25. State Attorney General John Suthers, a Republican, and Governor John Hickenlooper, a Democrat, until U.S. Supreme Court decides the issue once and for all. (Suthers supports the ban, Hickenlooper does not.)

But attorney Mari Newman, who is representing the six couples who filed suit, said yesterday that "justice delayed is justice denied."

Earlier, Newman compared opponents of marriage equality to  George Wallace, the  Alabama governor who tried to prevent integration at the University of Alabama in 1963. "I think it's fair to say that in this topic, those who are opposing marriage equality are ultimately going to be viewed like George Wallace standing on the schoolhouse steps trying to keep people out," said Newman.

Despite the stay, supportive clerks in Denver, Boulder and Pueblo began giving out marriage licenses to same-sex couples after the earlier ruling. Last week the Colorado Supreme Court ordered Denver clerks to stop, and Pueblo followed suit.

In Boulder, however, a district judge ruled a clerk could continue to issue licenses to gay and lesbian couples.  The same court rejected an appeal by the state.

Related: An Interactive Map Of Marriage Equality In The U.S., From 2004 To Today

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