Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Alabama Supreme Court halts Gay Marriage

Alabama, I swear!

Tonight, the state Supreme Court put a stop on gay marriage!

NPR reports
In a 134-page opinion, seven of the nine justices said the U.S. Constitution "does not require one definition of marriage."

"As it has done for approximately two centuries, Alabama law allows for 'marriage' between only one man and one woman," the court wrote. "Alabama probate judges have a ministerial duty not to issue any marriage license contrary to this law. Nothing in the United States Constitution alters or overrides this duty."

Of course the big conflict here is that a U.S. District Court judge struck down Alabama's ban on gay marriage. That was appealed, but the Supreme Court refused to put a hold on that ruling while it decides on the issue of same-sex marriage itself.

This means that that today's ruling from the Alabama Supreme Court throws the state into conflict with the federal judiciary. Remember, it was Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore who issued a similar order in February.

U.S. District Court Judge Callie Granade, who struck down gay marriage in the state, said that probate judges should should follow her order, not that of the chief justice.

Moore recused himself from Tuesday's ruling.
Read the opinion

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Sadly, I'm not surprised

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Viktor is a small town southern boy living in Los Angeles. You can find him on Twitter, writing about pop culture, politics, and comics. He’s the creator of the graphic novel StrangeLore and currently getting back into screenwriting.