Supreme Court refuses to halt same-sex marriage in Alabama

he U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused a request by Alabama’s attorney general to keep same-sex marriages in the state on hold, likely clearing the way for gay and lesbian couples to begin seeking marriage licenses there.
But the chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court created some last-minute confusion after he issued an order late Sunday telling probate judges in his state not to hand out the licenses to couples of the same sex.
Chief Justice Roy Moore said probate judges were not bound by a federal judge’s ruling last month that struck down the state’s ban on same-sex weddings.

U.S. District Court Judge Callie Granade, an appointee of President George W. Bush, ruled in January that Alabama’s prohibition on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional but put her decision on hold until Monday.
Gay marriage advocates were quick to criticize Moore’s order and said couples still planned to request marriage licenses across the state on Monday. Alabama would be the 37th state to allow gay and lesbian couples to wed.
“This is a pathetic, last-ditch attempt at judicial fiat by an Alabama Supreme Court justice — a man who should respect the rule of law rather than advance his personal beliefs,” said Sarah Warbelow, legal director for the national Human Rights Campaign.


http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/02/supreme-court-refuses-to-halt-same-sex-marriage-in-alabama/

Now the counties are defying the ruling -- this could get ugly:

At least 51 of 67 Alabama counties were not issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples today in defiance of a federal ruling to do so, according to an ABC News count.

Among the Alabamans affected today were Bob Baker and Russell Wilson, who said their excitement turned to disappointment as they headed to the Mobile, Alabama, courthouse to get a marriage license and found the office window closed.

"We thought the windows were going to open at 8 [a.m.]," Baker said. "They just [kept] delaying it and delaying it."

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Instead of signing marriage licenses, Baker and Wilson gathered with several other same-sex couples today in a law office to file new petitions.

"No windows open. No marriage license," Wilson said. "We waited 33 years for this. ... It's a big disappointment."

It was a chaotic day for same-sex couples as a U.S. Supreme Court decision made Alabama the 37th state today to allow same-sex marriages. On Sunday night, a state chief justice ordered county judges to deny the licenses and today Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley said he was "disappointed" in a federal appeals court's decision to allow the unions but would not take action against judges who issued licenses.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/alabama-37th-state-sex-marriages/story?id=28836644

And Roy Moore, Alabama Chief Justice, orders probate judges to defy federal gay marriage ruling.

Only 16 of 63 counties actually opened doors, the rest responding to CJ Moore's admonition.  Arguing against the supremacy of the US Constitution, CJ Moore was defiant:

Washington Times wrote:“A lot of states in this union have caved to such unlawful authority, and this is not one,” Chief Justice Moore told NBC News. “This is Alabama. We don’t give up the recognition that law has bounds.”

You may recall Justice Roy Moore as the Chief Justice who refused to take the Ten Commandments down from the public courthouse in Birmingham.  He was held in contempt by the Federal Judge in that case.  On November 13, 2003, the Alabama Court of the Judiciary unanimously removed Moore from his post as Chief Justice.  But, on November 6, 2012, Moore won election back to the office of Alabama Chief Justice, defeating replacement Democratic candidate Bob Vance.

We'll see.  I'm sure there is more coming (no pun intended).

I heard about that motherfucker. I hope he realizes the gigantic lawsuit he's opening his state up to ... if not, well, bring on the National Guard.

Shades of Wallace standing on the school steps.