LOUISVILLE — A federal judge has stopped enforcement of a ruling that would allow grocery stores and other outlets to sell liquor.

U.S. District Judge John G. Heyburn II on Wednesday ruled that an appeal by state officials and package liquor stores is unlikely to succeed. But Heyburn wrote that allowing sales to go forward immediately would cause legal confusion before lawmakers could act to fix the statute in question.

Heyburn ruled in August that Kentucky's law barring grocery stores, gas stations and other retailers from selling wine and liquor is unconstitutional because it violates the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution.