Alabama nuptials-ban ruling on hold

MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- A federal judge Thursday ruled that gays have the right to marry in all Alabama counties, but placed her decision on hold until the U.S Supreme Court weighs in on same-sex marriage this summer.

U.S. District Judge Callie Granade, as she has before, ruled that Alabama's ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional. And this time, she forbade all probate judges from enforcing it. But her decision to stay the order until the high court rules means that, at least for now, same-sex couples still cannot marry in Alabama.

"Judge Granade's new order means that very soon, no probate judge in the state will be able to deny a marriage license to any qualified same-sex couple," said David Dinielli, the Southern Poverty Law Center's deputy legal director.

Granade first ruled that Alabama's gay-marriage ban was illegal in January. As a result, gay couples were eligible to marry for three weeks until the Alabama Supreme Court in March ordered probate judges to stop issuing marriage licenses.

Groups fighting for marriage rights fired back at the Alabama Supreme Court's decision with a class-action lawsuit filed by gay couples across the state. Granade's decision Thursday was in response to that lawsuit.

Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange said he was glad Granade "finally accepted our advice and issued a stay." However, he said the state would have avoided months of "chaos and confusion" if she had done so when she first ruled in January.

A Section on 05/22/2015

Upcoming Events