A federal judge on Sunday temporarily
set aside her ruling striking down Alabama's ban on gay marriage.
U.S. District Judge Callie “Ginny”
Granade on Friday ruled that an Alabama law and a constitutional
amendment approved by 81 percent of voters in 2006 limiting marriage
to heterosexual couples were in violation 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.”
Granade denied Luther's request for an
indefinite stay, saying that he had failed to show a need, but agreed
to set aside implementation of her ruling for 14 days to give the
state time to present its arguments to the Eleventh Circuit Court of
Appeals.
“If no action is taken by the
Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals to extend or lift the stay within
that time period, this court's stay will be lifted on February 9,
2015,” she
wrote.
In December, the Eleventh Circuit
refused to stay a similar challenge in Florida, allowing gay and
lesbian couples to begin marrying in that state.
In their response opposing the stay,
lawyers for the plaintiffs also asked Granade to clarify whether her
ruling applies statewide. The request was a response to a statement
issued Saturday by the Alabama Probate Judges Association declaring
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. Granade said she
would “issue a separate order addressing plaintiffs' request for
clarification of the court's injunction order.”
(Brief
provided by Equality Case Files.)