Federal Judge Orders Alabama to License Gay Marriages

A federal judge in Mobile, Alabama ruled on Thursday that the local probate judge cannot refuse to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, potentially adding some clarity to a judicial squabble that has shaken Alabama for almost a week. 

The order by Judge Callie V. S. Granade of Federal District Court came after a brief hearing and prompted cheers and crying in the halls of the probate court.  The ruling was the first in this case with a probate judge as a defendant and was seen by lawyers for the gay couples who brought the case as a clear signal to probate judges around the state what their duties were. 

In a straightforward order, Judge Granade restated an earlier finding that Alabama’s ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional and concluded that if the couples before her “take all steps that are required in the normal course of business as a prerequisite to issuing a marriage license to opposite-sex couples, [the probate judge] may not deny them a license on the ground that plaintiffs constitute same-sex couples.”

See Campbell Robertson, U.S. Orders Alabama to License Gay Unions, The New York Times, Feb. 12, 2015.