21
Jun
A Cook County judge agreed today to combine two lawsuits claiming the state’s ban on gay marriage is unconstitutional.
The lawsuits against Cook County Clerk David Orr were filed by the the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois and the gay rights group Lambda Legal.
Judge Moshe Jacobius, presiding judge of the Chancery Division, agreed to combine the cases during a brief hearing today in the Daley Center. The next hearing has not yet been scheduled.
What remains to be seen is who will defend against the lawsuits.
The Cook County state’s attorney and the Illinois attorney general – the two offices that would normally defend the county clerk against such a lawsuit – have said they agree the ban is unconstitutional. Orr applauded the lawsuits after they were filed.
The lawsuits claim that by not issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, the county clerk has violated the couples’ rights to due process and equal protection under the Illinois Constitution.
The Thomas More Society, a public interest law group that opposes same-sex marriage, has said it will petition the court to allow Thomas More attorneys to defend the state’s marriage laws. That petition has not yet been filed.
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