Ala. Supreme Court halts same-sex marriage

[Casino67]

FoxNews:

The Alabama Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered the state's probate judges to stop issuing marriage licenses to gay couples, a decision that flies in the face of numerous rulings by federal judges in Alabama and other states across the country who have said banning gay marriage violates the U.S. Constitution.

 

The all-Republican court sided with a pair of conservative organizations Tuesday in ruling that the U.S. Constitution doesn't alter the judges' duty to administer state law, which defines marriage as between only one man and one woman.

 

Six justices concurred in the 134-page opinion, which wasn't signed, but the court's most outspoken opponent of gay marriage, Chief Justice Roy Moore, recused himself.

 

Gay marriages began in some Alabama counties on Feb. 9 following a decision by U.S. District Judge Callie Granade of Mobile, who ruled that both Alabama's constitutional and statutory bans on same-sex marriage were unconstitutional.

 

[Draggingtree]

Criticizing Justices, state court bars same-sex marriages

By Lyle Denniston on Mar 3, 2015 at 10:35 pm

 

Sharply criticizing the Supreme Court for its recent actions on same-sex marriage, the Alabama Supreme Court on Tuesday evening ordered all state judges who have the duty to issue licenses to wed to stop doing so immediately for same-sex couples.

 

Using its independent power to interpret the federal Constitution, the state tribunal upheld the Alabama ban on same-sex marriage — a ruling directly contrary to a decision by a federal trial judge in Mobile. The Supreme Court itself has refused to stop the enforcement of the federal judge’s ruling while the state appeals to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.

http://www.scotusblog.com/2015/03/criticizing-justices-state-court-bars-same-sex-marriages/

[Draggingtree]

Wednesday, January 06, 2016

 

In case you're wondering what the hell is going on with Judge Roy Moore ordering Alabama probate judges not to issue same-sex marriage licenses

 

Marty Lederman

You've probably read that Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore today ordered all probate judges in Alabama to refrain from issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, even though the U.S. Supreme Court held on June 26, in Obergefell v. Hodges, that the Fourteenth Amendment guarantees such couples a right to marry. No doubt you're wondering: How can this be?

What most of the initial news stories don't explain--not that it makes Judge Moore's actions any more defensible--is that the probate judges are not(directly) subject to the order of the U.S. Supreme Court in Obergefell; but theyare currently subject to no fewer than three orders: two conflicting court orders, and now Judge Moore's order, which, believe it or not, is not a judicial order. [uPDATE: Chris Geidner, not surprisingly, offered an accurate, early report. See also Howard Wasserman for more. Both of their posts are, I believe, consistent with this one.]

As I understand it, the basic gist is the f:

1. In Alabama, state probate judges are the officials who grant marriage licenses.

http://balkin.blogspot.com/2016/01/in-case-youre-wondering-what-hell-is.html