Some probate judges in Alabama had started issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples in the wake of this past week’s U.S. Supreme Court marriage equality ruling.
WASHINGTON — Three days after the U.S. Supreme Court marriage ruling, there is confusion in Alabama.
First, some same-sex couples were issued marriage licenses in some counties in the state on Monday morning. Then, the state's Supreme Court issued an order in the afternoon — an order that's launched confusion, including in the media, about what happens now.
In March, the Alabama Supreme Court ordered probate judges — who can issue marriage licenses in the state — to stop issuing such licenses to same-sex couples. At the time, some probate judges in Alabama had begun issuing the licenses after a federal district court ruled the state's marriage ban was unconstitutional.
Since then, there were no marriages for same-sex couples in Alabama. After the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and Tennessee marriage bans in Obergefell v. Hodges on Friday — a ruling that creates a national decision on the issue — some probate judges in Alabama began issuing licenses again on Monday.
On Monday afternoon, the Alabama Supreme Court issued an order that asks for input from the parties to the March case as to "the effect of the Supreme Court's decision in Obergefell on this Court's existing orders."
The reference to "existing orders" suggests the court's view is that the March order that banned probate judges from issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples remains in effect. On Monday, the court did not, however, explicitly direct probate judges to stop issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
Additionally, the Alabama Supreme Court noted that the parties to the Obergefell case have 25 days to ask the Supreme Court to reconsider its ruling — a step that appears unlikely given that state officials in each of the four states have said they will adhere to the ruling.
Although the court did not order probate judges to stop, Chief Justice Roy Moore — who has not participated in the orders in the state case — told AL.com that the Supreme Court's opinion is "[b]asically ... not in effect" during the 25-day period, absent a ruling to the contrary from the Alabama Supreme Court.
Moore's views on the issue, however, are well known. He has spoken out often in opposition to the marriage claims made by same-sex couples. He presumably has recused himself from the case before his court because he had issued his own memorandum, as the administrator of Alabama courts, attempting to stop same-sex couples from marrying in the state in advance of the federal trial court's order there taking effect in February.
Source BuzzFeed - Politics http://ift.tt/1R0bfW0
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