Bentonville - A woman who was named in a lawsuit challenging the new state law that bars adoption by unmarried couples has won temporary custody of her grandchild.

Sheila Cole of Tulsa, Oklahoma, said the decision by Benton County Circuit Judge Jay Finch represents the first hurdle toward adopting the child, who was in foster care in Bentonville.

The Arkansas chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union filed the lawsuit last month on behalf of Cole and others. The new law prohibits unmarried couples from serving as foster parents or adoptive parents.

The ACLU indicated after the hearing on Cole's custody petition that the group would not pursue a temporary restraining order it was seeking to stop the law from going into effect unless the group hears from the attorney general's office that the law will affect Cole's adoption petition.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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