A federal judge on Wednesday dismissed three defendants from the American Civil Liberties Union’s lawsuit challenging Wisconsin’s Marriage Amendment, though the ACLU did not oppose dismissal of two of them.
U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb dismissed Eau Claire County District Attorney Gary King and Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm as defendants because claims made against them in the lawsuit are moot, and because the ACLU and the eight same-sex couples who are plaintiffs in the case agreed that they can be dismissed.
Crabb also dismissed state Department of Revenue Secretary Rick Chandler because she said the plaintiffs haven’t shown that he has any authority to decide whether same-sex couples can marry or receive tax benefits of married couples.
“The question in this case is limited to whether plaintiffs have a federal constitutional right to marry, so any injunction that issues in this case should be limited to public officials who are blocking plaintiffs’ access to marriage,” Crabb wrote.
King and Chisholm were named as defendants because they could prosecute some of the couples for marrying outside Wisconsin, but both said they would not prosecute because they don’t believe that law applies to those couples.
Crabb declined to dismiss State Registrar Oskar Anderson because he creates forms related to getting a marriage license.
If the plaintiffs win their case, Crabb said, they could seek an injunction requiring Anderson to amend those forms so they are inclusive of same-sex couples.
Also remaining as defendants in the case are Gov. Scott Walker, Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen, Milwaukee County Clerk Joseph Czarnezki, Racine County Clerk Wendy Christensen and Dane County Clerk Scott McDonell.
Czarnezki and McDonell, however, have said in court papers that they believe the Marriage Amendment is unconstitutional.