The Supreme Court has finally(?) agreed to deal with these situations,
but the legal maneuvering continues at the State level.
Remember that judge, Roy Moore, who refused to remove the 10 Commandments
from the State's (courthouse) building ? He is still trying to be a player.
TimesDaily.com - February 3, 2015
Court denies state's request for stay on same-sex marriages; Strange appeals
Quote:
Alabama’s request for a hold on a ruling that struck down the state’s two bans
on same-sex marriage has been denied by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Following that ruling, Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange asked the U.S. Supreme Court
to stay the Jan. 23 U.S. District Court ruling striking down Alabama’s same-sex marriage bans.
<snip>
Alabama had asked the 11th Circuit appeals court to keep the decision on hold
since the U.S. Supreme Court will take up the issue of gay marriage later this year.
State lawyers urged the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in Atlanta to stay
a judge’s decision overturning Alabama’s two bans on gay marriage.
They suggested there would be continued disputes over the legal status
of marriages even though a judge ruled the bans unconstitutional.
“Absent a stay, any same-sex marriages that are recognized by any official in Alabama
will be subject to dispute and challenge,” lawyers for the Alabama attorney general’s office wrote.
“A stay ensures that people in Alabama, including the plaintiffs, do not have to worry about
the undoing of same-sex marriages or adoptions after the U.S. Supreme Court rules this June,” state lawyers wrote.
State lawyers noted the conflicting statements handed down about issuing same-sex marriage licenses.
The Alabama Probate Judges Association initially said [federal Judge] Granade’s decision did not bind
judges to issue marriage licenses to gay couples. The group reversed course after
Granade issued a clarification order and said the decision applies to them.
Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore said last week that Alabama courts are not bound by Granade’s order.
The Southern Poverty Law Center has filed a judicial ethics complaint over Moore’s remarks,
likening it to his refusal a decade ago to obey a court order to remove a Ten Commandments monument
from the state judicial building.
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