Kathleen Kane will leave it to Gov. Tom Corbett to defend the ban, which he supports.
Defending Pennsylvania's law effectively banning same-sex marriage against a legal challenge in federal court will fall to Gov. Tom Corbett.
Pennsylvania's elected attorney general, Kathleen Kane, said today that she won't defend the law.
Kane is a supporter of same-sex marriage; Corbett is an opponent. Both were named in a lawsuit filed Tuesday in federal court seeking to overturn the law and legalize same-sex marriage in Pennsylvania.
Pennsylvania law says it's the attorney general's duty to defend the constitutionality of state laws. But it also says the attorney general may allow lawyers for the governor's office or agencies to defend a lawsuit if it's more efficient or in the state's best interests.
“I cannot ethically defend the constitutionality of Pennsylvania’s (law banning same-sex marriage), where I believe it to be wholly unconstitutional,” Kane said this morning in Philadelphia.
Corbett's office isn't commenting on the lawsuit.