Topeka, Kan. (AP) – A federal judge has taken steps to speed up a ruling on the remaining legal issues in a lawsuit challenging Kansas’ gay-marriage ban.
U.S. District Judge Daniel Crabtree on Dec. 31 directed opposing attorneys to narrow factual disputes and to propose a schedule at the end of January for him to hear legal issues.
Both the state’s attorneys and lawyers challenging ban want to expedite the case.
The American Civil Liberties Union filed the lawsuit in October for couples denied marriage licenses. The U.S. Supreme Court blocked Kansas from enforcing its ban while the case goes forward and the ACLU expanded its lawsuit to force the state to recognize the resulting gay marriages.
Separately, the U.S. Supreme Court could rule before July on whether states can keep banning gay marriage.
