Marriage in Alabama and Aggrieved Dinosaurs

[Content Note: Homophobia; Christian Supremacy.]

Last month, US District Judge Callie V.S. "Ginny" Granade ruled unconstitutional Alabama's ban on same-sex marriage and recognition of same-sex marriages entered in other states. At the time, she issued a stay, which put her ruling on hold until today. Because there was not a successful challenge to her ruling, same-sex couples in Alabama were all set to begin getting married today.

Enter our old pal Judge Roy Moore, who who was removed from office in 2003 after refusing to remove a Ten Commandments Monument from the Alabama Judicial Building but is now Alabama's Chief Justice, because of course he is. Yesterday, Moore ordered "all probate judges and employees in Alabama to follow existing state law and not issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples or recognize same-sex marriages."

In his order issued Sunday night, Moore wrote that if any probate judge defies the order, Governor Robert Bentley would have the responsibility of ensuring that state law is "faithfully executed."

He has also said that the judges are not bound by the orders issued in that case, Searcy v. Strange. Instead, he said, probate judges fall under the direct supervision and authority of the chief justice.

He contends that the district court that issued a ruling striking down the state's same-sex marriage ban has not issued an order directed to probate judges, who are not bound by the opinions of that court.

...An attorney for plaintiffs Cari Searcy and Kim McKeand, the couple at the center of the ruling ending the ban, called Moore's order a "George Wallace move," adding that he cannot think of a more direct act of defiance off the federal government since the former governor's famous stand in the schoolhouse door.

"I think it's absolutely stunning that our state's highest jurists would just advocate for ignoring a federal court order. Judge Granade's order is law of the land. It's not up for debate," attorney David Kennedy said. "It's alarming."

Moore does not have the authority to direct his state to ignore federal law. This is a desperate, last-minute effort to deny people equality, in the most cynical and absurd way. But it's just kicking the can of equality down the road: He's simply delaying the inevitable by causing chaos. What an asshole.

"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 Human Rights Campaign Legal Director Sarah Warbelow.

Yep.

As for what's going to happen in Alabama today, well, that literally depends on who you ask: "It's unclear whether probate judges will follow Moore's order. AL.com reported that judges have differed in whether they intend to issue marriage licenses to all couples, deny licenses to gay couples, or deny licenses to all couples."

This will be resolved, and it will be resolved in equality's favor. It's just a matter of when.

In the meantime, people who have been waiting their entire lives for equal recognition are being forced to wait, for longer, because of one man whose Christian Dominionism trumps even the most basic judicial ethics.

And this is a good reminder of why we need a federal law like yesterday to ensure marriage equality nationally. We await the Supreme Court's imminent decision, and hope it's the right one.