Alabama’s Crisis Over Marriage Equality
While the country still awaits a decision from the United States Supreme Court as to whether gay marriage will be legal, most probate judges in Alabama are prepared to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples beginning Monday. However, some are planning to ignore a federal ruling that struck down the state’s ban.
Liberty Counsel, an anti-marriage equality litigation and policy organization said, “The federal decision is not binding these magistrates. Their directive has to come from the Alabama state court.” Several probate judges will not be issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples next week based on their religious objections, “I do not think I am required to compromise my religious beliefs to be Probate Judge. Alabama law does not mandate me to issue marriage licenses to anyone of any gender,” one judge said in a statement.
The confusion over who is eligible to marry in Alabama stems from the state’s top judicial official, Chief Justice Roy Moore, who sent a memo earlier this week that instructed probate judges to continue acting in accordance with Alabama’s ban on same-sex nuptials. Although District Judge Callie V.S. Granade struck down that ban, the 11th Circuit refused to extend the stay of her ruling.
See Emma Margolin, Alabama Heading for ‘Constitutional Crisis’ Over Marriage Equality, MSNBC, Feb. 6, 2015.