SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) - The attorney representing the six same-sex couples challenging South Dakota's gay marriage ban has asked a judge to bypass a trial and issue a ruling.
Minneapolis-based attorney Joshua Newville filed the motion for summary judgment last week. In the same memorandum Newville included a response to the state's motion to dismiss the case.
Newville filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in May. The lawsuit challenges a 1996 state law passed by the Legislature and a voter-approved 2006 constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.
The motion says there are no material facts in dispute in the case and says the plaintiffs are entitled to summary judgment as a matter of law.
Newville is also representing seven same-sex couples in a separate North Dakota lawsuit as well.