AG tells DAs not to prosecute clerks

Email explains AG's position

MADISON, Wis. — An email sent to Wisconsin’s district attorneys from Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen tells them he doesn’t recommend charging county clerks for issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

Van Hollen said Thursday that clerks could face charges from local district attorneys for breaking the law by issuing the licenses.

The email sent Friday afternoon said he never said he planned to prosecute any clerks.

“During a half-hour interview in which the Journal Sentinel asked if clerks could be charged I acknowledged they could, citing [state law], and further stated it would be very fact specific and up to individual district attorneys. The opposite answer would have been untruthful,” he wrote in a copy of the email obtained by News 3.

Van Hollen said he asked the reporter not to report on that subject saying it could generate fear mongering.