Alabama Chief Justice Defies Federal Ruling on Gay Marriage
The chief justice of Alabama defied a federal court decision and ordered clerks across the state not to recognize same-sex marriages on Monday, the day they were to take effect.
It was not known how many of the state’s probate judges would follow the last-minute order from Chief Justice Roy Moore. Gay couples were still expected to show up at courthouses, expecting to be issued marriage licenses.
“To ensure the orderly administration of justice,” Moore wrote, “effective immediately, no probate judge of the state of Alabama nor any agent or employee of any Alabama probate judge shall issue or recognize a marriage license.”
“A marriage contracted between individuals of the same sex is invalid in this state,” he wrote.
The Human Rights Campaign, a leading gay rights organization, urged probate judges to ignore the chief justice, follow the Constitution and issue the licenses.
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