Madison — Ending a week of uncertainty, a federal judge Friday ordered Wisconsin officials to stop enforcing the states gay marriage ban but then immediately put that order on hold while the historic case winds through months of appeals.
The 14-page order from U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb in Madison halted the same-sex weddings taking place in most of the state and set up an appeal by the state to the federal 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago. The judge gave no indication whether the hundreds of same-sex marriages already performed will hold up in court.
She said that if left to her own judgment, she would not have stayed her order and would have allowed same-sex marriages to go forward. But she said she felt compelled to halt them because of how the U.S. Supreme Court and other courts have acted in similar cases.
Via Judge ends gay marriage ban, but stops weddings for now @ JSOnline.