COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - State Attorney General Alan Wilson has asked South Carolina’s highest court to reconsider a ruling meant to extend domestic violence protections to same-sex couples.
Both sides say the wording unintentionally left all unmarried couples who live together - or used to - less protected.
Wilson officially asked the state Supreme Court on Tuesday to rehear the case.
The justices decided last month to delay implementation of their unanimous ruling that the state’s domestic violence law violates the equal protection rights of same-sex couples. The decision was a victory for a gay woman whose request for a protection order had been denied.
But Wilson and the woman’s attorney, Bakari Sellers, say the elimination of a section of law left authorities unable to charge an unmarried person with beating a partner.
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