JURIST - Paper Chase: Oregon county ordered to issue marriage licenses

An Oregon judge has ordered Benton County to resume issuing marriage licenses after the county stopped issuing all licenses pending a decision by the Oregon Supreme Court on whether the state's law prohibiting same-sex marriage is constitutional. Although Senior Judge Wayne Harris' order doesn't specifically mention same-sex couples, it is expected that licenses will only be given for traditional marriages. Benton County stopped issuing all licenses in April after the state threatened to sue the county if it allowed same-sex couples to marry. AP has more. Available online are documents relating to another Oregon county's decision to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Read the state Attorney General's opinion [PDF] on same-sex marriage licenses and Multnomah County's opinion [PDF] that it would be unconstitutional to deny the licenses.