Quicker ruling sought in Pa. gay marriage ban case

The plaintiffs in a challenge to Pennsylvania’s law banning same-sex marriage are changing strategy and now asking a federal judge to make an immediate decision in their case.

 

Civil rights lawyers representing a widow, 11 couples and one of the couples’ two teenage daughters filed papers Monday in federal court in Harrisburg saying they no longer see the need for a trial.

They are asking for a summary judgment because they say the state’s lawyers have not refuted their claims.

The plaintiffs say the gay marriage ban unlawfully prevents them from getting the same legal protection and tax benefits afforded to married couples.

Attorney Vic Walczak of the American Civil Liberties Union tells The Associated Press the plaintiffs hope the judge will see the “profound harm caused by this law and strike it down.”