Philadelphia Clerk Headed to Court

Despite Pennsylvania’s law against same-sex marriage,Montgomery County Register of Wills D. Bruce Hanes has issued 164 marriagelicenses to same-sex couples since July, with 98 of them completed, returned,and filed.

Republican Governor Tom Corbett’s Health Department is nowseeking to stop the suburban Philadelphia court clerk from issuing any morelicenses.  After the U.S. Supreme Court’sDOMA ruling, Hanes argues a conflict exists between his constitutional dutiesand the same-sex marriage ban.

The Commonwealth Court has narrowed the issues to “whetherthey have jurisdiction, given Hanes’ status as a judicial officer; if handingout licenses is considered a judicial act; and whether Hanes can argue in hisown defense that the marriage law is unconstitutional.”

Similar practices have been going on in New Mexico whereseveral county clerks have taken it upon themselves to issue same-sex marriagelicenses in a state that bans them.

See Mark Scolforo,Pa. Same-Sex Marriage License Case Headsto Court, Associated Press, Sept. 4, 2013.