A Service of UA Little Rock

Lawyers For Gay Couples Want Broader Ruling

Attorneys for a group of same-sex couples are asking a judge to clarify that he intended to strike down all Arkansas laws prohibiting same-sex marriage when he voided the state's ban last week.

The attorneys on Thursday asked Circuit Judge Chris Piazza to expand his ruling, a day after the state's highest court noted that a law prohibiting clerks from issuing marriage licenses to gay couples was still in effect.

Justices have declined to stay Piazza's ruling, which struck down a 2004 constitutional amendment and a 1997 law defining marriage as between a man and a woman.

More than 450 marriage licenses had been issued to same-sex couples following Piazza's ruling, but the two counties that had been issuing them Wednesday said they would stop after the Supreme Court decision.

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