Judge: GOP can intervene in gay marriage cases

MICHAEL BIESECKER
Associated Press

RALEIGH, NC (AP) — A federal judge has allowed Republican lawmakers to intervene in a pair of challenges to North Carolina’s now-defunct gay marriage ban, potentially enabling them to appeal to the US Supreme Court.

Chief US District Court Judge William Osteen Jr. issued an order Tuesday granting a request by House Speaker Thom Tillis and Senate leader Phil Berger seeking to intervene in the cases. Osteen’s order follows a separate ruling Friday by US District Court Judge Max O. Cogburn Jr. declaring the ban unconstitutional. Voters approved the ban in 2012.

Osteen wrote that he agrees with Cogburn that a ruling by the 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals means North Carolina’s ban should be struck down. Osteen was appointed to the bench by President George W. Bush.

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