Corbett, Kane Dropped From Pa. Gay Marriage Case

A state judge has dismissed Gov. Tom Corbett and state Attorney General Kathleen Kane as defendants in a court challenge to Pennsylvania's ban on same-sex marriage.

Commonwealth Court Judge Dan Pellegrini agreed to separate requests by Corbett and Kane to be removed from a case filed by multiple same-sex couples who were married based on marriage licenses issued in Montgomery County. A court clerk in the county issued licenses to 174 same-sex couples before Pellegrini ordered him to stop in September.

Lawyers on both sides of a more far-reaching challenge of the Pennsylvania law in federal court agreed in November to drop Corbett and Kane as defendants in that lawsuit.

Other state officials remain as defendants in both cases.