Alabama Supreme Court Halts Gay Marriages, Thumbs Its Nose At U.S. Supreme Court
On Tuesday night, the Alabama Supreme Court ordered probate judges throughout the state to stop issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
This comes a month after U.S. District Judge Callie Granade ruled the state's ban on marriage equality was unconstitutional and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to put it a stay on her ruling.
In the intervening weeks, hundreds of same-sex couples have gotten married in the Cotton State.
"As it has done for approximately two centuries, Alabama law allows for 'marriage' between only one man and one woman," the state supreme court wrote in its opinion. "Alabama probate judges have a ministerial duty not to issue any marriage license contrary to this law. Nothing in the United States Constitution alters or overrides this duty."
According to Buzzfeed, judges who disagree with the decision have five days to file a response and explain why why they should not be bound by the order.
It seems clear marriage opponents are trying to have it both ways: They create a disjointed system where only some judges are issuing licenses—and then declare, as the the Alabama Supreme Court did, that “uncertainty has become the order of the day.”
The only solution? Stop all same-sex nuptials to get things back under control. Will we have to send in the National Guard to chaperone gay couples into courthouses?
h/t: Reuters; Photos: Getty Images, Freedom to Marry