Alabama Chief Justice refuses to end fight against gay marriage

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January 7, 2016 | Sex & Society

Alabama Chief Justice refuses to end fight against gay marriage

Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore just can't accept that his side lost when it comes to gay marriage. Yesterday, he issued an order instructing his state’s probate judges that they had a “ministerial duty not to issue any marriage license contrary” to Alabama’s constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.

“Until further decision by the Alabama Supreme Court, the existing orders of the Alabama Supreme Court that Alabama probate judges have a ministerial duty not to issue any marriage license contrary to the Alabama Sanctity of Marriage Amendment or the Alabama Marriage Protection Act remain in full force and effect,” Moore wrote in the order.

Moore has decided that the recent U.S. Supreme Court’s Obergefell ruling only applies to Michigan, Kentucky, Ohio and Tennessee, the states directly involved in the case presented before the Chief Justices.

According to Senior Staff Attorney Scott McCoy from the Southern Poverty Law Center:

Chief Justice Roy Moore today issued a dead letter. In no way does his administrative order supersede Judge Granade’s federal injunction prohibiting probate judges from enforcing discriminatory Alabama marriage laws. If probate judges violate the injunction, they can be held in contempt. This is Moore yet again confusing his role as chief justice with his personal anti-LGBT agenda.

Montgomery County probate judge Steven L Reed has already tweeted that he does not intend to listen to Moore. "Judge Moore's latest charade is just sad & pathetic. My office will ignore him and this [request]," he wrote.

Chief Justice? We wouldn't hire this guy to hand out Happy Meals.