Lisa Madigan: Illinois counties can allow same-sex marriages now
Source: Chicago Sun-Times
Attorney General Lisa Madigan suggested in a letter Tuesday that county clerks across Illinois can allow same-sex couples to marry now, citing a recent ruling in Cook County.
Illinois became the 16th state to legalize same-sex marriage when Gov. Pat Quinn signed the Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act last year, but the law was not scheduled to take effect until June 1.
In a letter to Macon County Clerk Stephen Bean dated Tuesday, Madigan wrote that “the protections guaranteed by the Constitution must exist without regard to county lines.”
Bean wrote to Madigan’s office after U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman ruled on Feb. 21 that Cook County could immediately begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. That ruling, in Lee vs. Orr, applied only to marriages in Cook County because the class-action suit was filed against Cook County Clerk David Orr.
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