Tag: marriage equality

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Alabama Probate Judges Association Pushes Back On Marriage Equality Ruling

Legal advisers for the Alabama Probate Judges Association say Friday’s ruling that struck down the state’s same-sex marriage ban only applies to the two plaintiffs, not the whole state.

Via Birmingham’s ABC affiliate reports:

The Alabama Probate Judges Association says Friday’s ruling does not open the door for the issuance of same-sex marriage licenses.

Cari Searcy and Kim McKeand are the only plaintiffs in the case that was filed against Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange. The Alabama Probate Judges Association says that is a key point in the effect that this ruling has on the duties of probate judges.

“Judge Granade’s ruling in this case only applies to the parties in the case and has no effect on anybody that is not a named party. The probate judges were not parties in this matter,” Al Agricola, attorney for the Alabama Probate Judges Association, explained. “The legal effect of this decision is to allow one person in one same-sex marriage that was performed in another state to adopt their partner’s child. There is nothing in the judge’s order that requires probate judges in Alabama to issue marriage licenses to same sex couples.”

Folks tried this tactic in Florida last month and the judge there came back with a stinging clarification.

The judgment enforcing the court’s decision is actually quite clear. The ban is unconstitutional and the Attorney General is ordered to not enforce those laws. Read the judgement below:

“ALA. CONST. ART. I, § 36.03 (2006) and ALA. CODE 1975 § 30-1-19 are hereby DECLARED to be unconstitutional because they violate they Due Process Clause and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The defendant Luther Strange, in his capacity as Attorney General for the State of Alabama, is hereby ENJOINED from enforcing those laws.”

Here’s the local news report from WBMA:

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Alabama’s House Speaker On Today’s Marriage Equality Ruling

GOP Alabama House Speaker Mike Hubbard on today’s marriage equality ruling:

“It is outrageous when a single unelected and unaccountable federal judge can overturn the will of millions of Alabamians who stand in firm support of the Sanctity of Marriage Act. The Legislature will encourage a vigorous appeals process, and we will continue defending the Christian conservative values that make Alabama a special place to live.”

In October, Hubbard – the good Christian conservative values kind guy he is – was indicted on 23 felony corruption charges in late October. He refuses to resign in advance of his trial.

(h/t JMG)

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Alabama: Federal Judge Rules State Same-Sex Marriage Ban Unconstitutional

A federal trial court judge in Alabama ruled today that the state’s ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional.

From U.S. District Court Judge Callie V. S. Granade:

If anything, Alabama’s prohibition of same-sex marriage detracts from its goal of promoting optimal environments for children. Those children currently being raised by same-sex parents in Alabama are just as worthy of protection and recognition by the State as are the children being raised by opposite-sex parents. Yet Alabama’s Sanctity laws harms the children of same-sex couples for the same reasons that the Supreme Court found that the Defense of Marriage Act harmed the children of same-sex couples.

Such a law “humiliates [ ] thousands of children now being raised by same-sex couples. The law in question makes it even more difficult for the children to understand the integrity and closeness of their own family and its concord with other families in their community and in their daily lives.” Windsor, 133 S.Ct. at 2694. Alabama’s prohibition and non-recognition of same-sex marriage “also brings financial harm to children of same-sex couples.” id. at 2695, because it denies the families of these children a panoply of benefits that the State and the federal government offer to families who are legally wed.

Additionally, these laws further injures those children of all couples who are themselves gay or lesbian, and who will grow up knowing that Alabama does not believe they are as capable of creating a family as their heterosexual friends. For all of these reasons, the court finds that Alabama’s marriage laws violate the Due Process Clause and Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

The ruling seems to have declared the state amendment and statutes involved to be unconstitutional in regard to recognition of out-of-state marriages and marriages that are performed in Alabama.

In the judgment enforcing the court’s decision, Granade wrote,

“ALA. CONST. ART. I, § 36.03 (2006) and ALA. CODE 1975 § 30-1-19 are hereby DECLARED to be unconstitutional because they violate they Due Process Clause and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The defendant Luther Strange, in his capacity as Attorney General for the State of Alabama, is hereby ENJOINED from enforcing those laws.”

Judge Granade did NOT include a stay in her ruling. This means the ruling is effective immediately. And there is no waiting period in Alabama.

Of note: Judge Granade was nominated by President George W. Bush.

Update via AL.com:

The Alabama Attorney General’s Office indicated it would continue to fight the case.

“We are disappointed and are reviewing the Federal District Court’s decision,” spokesman Mike Lewis said via email. “We expect to ask for a stay of the court’s judgment pending the outcome of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling which will ultimately decide this case.”

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Oklahoma: State Rep. Todd Russ Seeks To Eliminate All Marriage Licenses In The State

Oklahoma State Rep. Todd Russ

Oklahoma state Rep. Todd Russ has introduced legislation – House Bill 1125 – that would end marriage licenses altogether in the state:

Under his plan, a religious official would sign a couple’s marriage certificate, which would then be filed with the clerk. Marriages would no longer be performed by judges. If a couple did not have a religious official to preside over their wedding, they could file an affidavit of common law marriage.

“Marriages are not supposed to be a government thing anyway,” he said Wednesday.

Since marriage equality came to Oklahoma last October, Oklahomans For Equality says 3,165 marriage licenses have been issued to same-sex couples.

Same-sex marriage is currently legal in 36 states and the District of Columbia.

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Marriage News Watch – January 19, 2015

This week in Marriage Equality from the American Foundation for Equal Rights:

• Florida has finally legalized driving while gay.

• Bills to discriminate against gay couples are rapidly multiplying in Texas.

• Multiple states are still wasting hundreds of thousands of dollars to try to reverse marriage equality.

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Legal Eagle Chris Geidner – SCOTUS Has Been Prepping The Country For Marriage Equality

Chris Geidner, writing for Buzzfeed, feels confident that SCOTUS will definitely rule in favor of marriage equality.

In fact, says Geidner, SCOTUS has been preparing the country for this outcome:

The justices, on Oct. 6, 2014, denied five states’ requests for the court to hear their cases and reverse the appeals court decisions that struck down marriage bans. That decision to deny those writs of certiorari meant same-sex couples began marrying in those states, as well as in six other states within those appeals court circuits.

Then, the Supreme Court refused to issue stays (or holds) of lower court rulings in Idaho and later Alaska while the states attempted to appeal the rulings. Those orders, which came with no reasoning, followed the decision of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to strike down Idaho and Nevada’s bans. Because there already was an appeals court ruling in favor of marriage equality that applied to those states, the orders were seen as being similar to the court’s Oct. 6 decision.

But then, on Dec. 19, 2014, the Supreme Court denied a stay during Florida’s appeal of the federal marriage case challenging its ban. In Florida, unlike in any of the other states where the justices allowed same-sex couples to begin marrying, the appeals court for that circuit had not ruled on the issue.

This decision by a majority of the justices to allow same-sex couples to marry while appeals are ongoing — and before the Supreme Court has resolved the issue itself — means that a majority of the court is comfortable with that reality becoming the default.

More than that, the decision to allow same-sex couples to marry before the Supreme Court has decided the issue creates more legitimacy for an eventual decision striking down the bans by increasing the number of states where same-sex couples already can marry. At this point, a decision striking down such bans nationwide only changes the situation in 15 states. Before the justices started down this path on Oct. 6, 2014, it would have meant changing the law of more than 30 states.

I highly recommend reading Chris’ entire essay. It lays out a LOT of the rationale for how and why we got to “here” regarding same-sex marriage.

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Federal Judge Orders Michigan To Recognize 300 Same-Sex Marriages

The Detroit Free Press is reporting that a federal judge has ordered the state of Michigan to recognize 300 same-sex marriages in Michigan today, calling them a “fundamental right.”

“In these circumstances, what the state has joined together, it may not put asunder.,” U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman said in his opinion.

U.S. Supreme Court could decide whether to hear MI same-sex marriage case

The 300 couples wed last March after a federal judge struck down the state’s ban on same sex marriage. The state has since refused to recognize them.

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Strong Support For Same-Sex Marriage In Ireland

A new poll by Red C shows support at 76 percent for marriage equality in Ireland ahead of the upcoming referendum on the issue this May.

From The Journal:

It shows that 81% of women and 72% of men polled supported marriage for same-sex couples. People aged 18 – 24 were most likely to support it, with support generally declining as the age of those polled increased.

The news has been welcomed by Ireland’s human rights watchdog, the Irish Council for Civil Liberties. Its director, Mark Kelly, said that the poll ”is further evidence of the deep repository of goodwill amongst voters in Ireland towards full equality for same sex couples.”

Labour Party TD for Dublin North West and Co-Chair of Labour LGBT, John Lyons, also welcomed the poll.

“Today’s poll builds upon consecutive national polls which show consistent support to afford gay and lesbian couples the right to civil marriage,” he said.

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Jon Stewart Skewers Florida Same-Sex Marriage Haters

Now that same-sex marriage IS the law of the land in Florida, Jon Stewart of The Daily Show skewers those in the Sunshine State who stood in the way of marriage equality.

For example, regarding the county clerks who decided to cancel ALL courthouse weddings rather that be forced to marry same-sex couples, Stewart says this: “Yes we don’t want to cause ‘discriminations’ against county court employees who don’t feel like following the law. These people didn’t choose to be county clerks. They were born that way.”

As always, Stewart is as funny as he is on point. Check it out below:

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Marriage News Watch – January 12, 2015

From the American Foundation for Equal Rights:

• Florida became the 36th state with the freedom to marry.

• Judges in three southern states heard oral arguments.

• The Supreme Court considered cases from five states.

• A lawmaker in Texas is wasting everyone’s time with a new anti-gay law that would make life difficult for everyone.