The Alabama Supreme Court on Tuesday night ordered probate judges to stop issuing same-sex marriage licenses, in defiance of an earlier ruling by a federal judge that struck down the state’s ban on gay marriage.
“As it has done for approximately two centuries, Alabama law allows for ‘marriage’ between only one man and one woman,” the ruling read. “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.”
Chief Justice Roy Moore, who has been outspoken in his opposition to legalizing gay marriage in Alabama and previously ordered the state’s probate judges not to issue same-sex marriage licenses, appeared to have recused himself from the case, according to AL.com.
Probate judges could now choose to file an emergency stay with the U.S. Supreme Court, Ron Krotoszynski, Jr, a University of Alabama law professor, told the news website. He added that the state of same-sex marriages in Alabama could be “chaotic” until the Court makes an expected decision in June on whether gay couples have a right to marry.
Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court denied Alabama’s request to halt same-sex marriage in the state pending its own ruling.
