Plaintiffs challenging Alabama's ban on
gay marriage have asked a federal judge not to stay her ruling and to
clarify whether it applies statewide.
Such unions are prohibited under state
law and a constitutional amendment approved by 81 percent of voters
in 2006. U.S. District Judge Ginny Granade on Friday ruled that both
violate the Due Process Clause and the Equal Protection Clause of the
Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
(Related: Federal
judge declares Alabama's gay marriage ban unconstitutional.)
Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange
immediately asked Granade to stay her ruling, arguing there would be
widespread confusion if “marriages are recognized on an interim
basis that are ultimately determined to be inconsistent with Alabama
law.” The state asked to stay the ruling until the Supreme Court
rules in a similar case, “resolving the issues on a nation-wide
basis.”
On Saturday, the Alabama Probate Judges
Association declared that the ruling is limited to plaintiffs, a
lesbian couple married in California who wish their marriage to be
recognized by the state so that one of the women can legally adopt
their son.
“There is nothing in the judge's
order that requires probate judges in Alabama to issue marriage
licenses to same-sex couples,” Al Agricola, attorney for the
Alabama Probate Judges Association, told Birmingham ABC affiliate
WBMA.
In a 10-page document filed Sunday,
lawyers for the plaintiffs rejected the attorney general's claims.
“Strange asserts that a stay is in
the public interest premised on a faulty notion that the validity of
marriages entered into while appeal is pending would be uncertain
should this Court be reversed. This is simply incorrect. Any
marriages entered into in reliance on the court's injunction would be
valid regardless of the outcome of the appeal.”
Also noted were the claims of the
Alabama Probate Judges Association.
“Clarification is necessary as the
Probate Judges association in Alabama have assumed the position like
George Wallace at the schoolhouse door staring defiantly upon this
Court's order reasoning that not all citizens of Alabama are entitled
to the same rights and privileges afforded under the Constitution of
the United States...”
“[T]his Court's order … shall meet
with immediate defiance and confusion without further clarification,”
the
lawyers wrote.
State officials are likely to turn to
the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals if Granade does not approve
their request. In December, the Eleventh Circuit refused to stay a
similar challenge in Florida, allowing gay and lesbian couples to
begin marrying in that state.
(Brief
provided by Equality Case Files.)