A former justice says in a recently published interview that the Arkansas Supreme Court voted to find the state's gay marriage ban unconstitutional but never issued its ruling months before same-sex marriage was legalized nationwide.
Justice Donald Corbin said the court voted 5-2 late last year to uphold a state judge's decision that the ban violated the Arkansas and U.S. constitutions.
Corbin said he had urged the court to issue an opinion before his term ended on Dec. 31. The court dismissed the marriage case in June, hours after the U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage.
Corbin made the comments in an interview for an oral history of the court. The Arkansas Times blog first reported Tuesday on the interview, which was published on the court system's website last month.
