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2 Neb. Inmates Sue for the Right to Marry

ACLU(AP) — A civil liberties organization is suing the Nebraska prison system on behalf of two inmates who say their constitutional rights are being violated because they haven’t been allowed to marry each other.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Nebraska filed the lawsuit Tuesday on behalf of inmates Paul Gillpatrick and Niccole Wetherell.

The two say they’ve been engaged for more than two years, but can’t get married because prison officials are “unwilling to place the couple in the same room or to use modern technology to make other arrangements to allow the ceremony to go forward.”

Gillpatrick, 42, is serving 55 to 90 years in prison for second-degree murder. He is eligible for parole in 2039. Wetherell, 33, is serving life in another state prison for first-degree murder.

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