Despite a ruling last June by the US Supreme Court that made same-sex marriage legal in all 50 states, Moore insists that the high court ruling only affected bans in Michigan, Kentucky, Ohio and Tennessee and that the ban in his state remains ‘in full force and effect.’
Moore claims his order not to issue licenses from last March still stands and 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.’
Since his March ruling, Moore acknowledged that ‘many probate judges are issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples’ in accordance with the US Supreme Court ruling but ‘others are issuing marriage licenses only to couples of the opposite gender or have ceased issuing all marriage licenses.’
The Southern Poverty Law Center characterized Moore’s order as ‘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,’ said SPLC Senior Staff Attorney Scott McCoy.
‘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.’
Moore once said that same-sex marriage would ‘literally cause the destruction of our country’ and said in June that the US Supreme Court’s decision to make same-sex marriage legal nationwide was ‘even worse‘ than the Court’s 19th century decision to uphold racial segregation.
1 comment:
a judge who shows partiality or bias is no judge at all
he's unfit for purpose
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