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Tuesday, May 17, 2011

WI Governor Calls Domestic Partnership Law Unconstitutional

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Gov. Scott Walker has told a judge he wants to stop defending Wisconsin's domestic partner registry in court because he doesn't believe it's constitutional.

Members of the conservative group Wisconsin Family Action filed a lawsuit last summer arguing the registry violates the state's constitutional ban on gay marriage. Former Gov. Jim Doyle, a Democrat who proposed the registry as a means of granting same-sex couples more legal rights, chose to defend the measure and had filed a motion asking Dane County Circuit Judge Daniel Moeser for summary judgment upholding it. Walker, a Republican, inherited the case from Doyle when he took office in January.

The governor filed a motion with Moeser late Friday asking to withdraw the defense because he believes the registry is unconstitutional. The governor pointed to a legal opinion Republican Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen issued two years ago that concluded the registry was indeed unconstitutional because it mimics marriage.

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