Two federal prosecutors on Wednesday
said that Alabama probate judges must follow the Supreme Court's
ruling on gay marriage.
The nation's highest court in June
ruled that gay and lesbian couples have a constitutional right to
marry.
Despite that ruling, Alabama Chief
Justice Roy Moore on Wednesday called on probate judges to stop
issuing such licenses, claiming that state laws which prohibit gay
and lesbian couples from marrying remain in effect.
(Related: Alabama
Chief Justice Roy Moore calls on judges to enforce state's gay
marriage ban.)
“The Chief Justice of the Alabama
Supreme Court has issued an administrative order, directing probate
judges that they may not issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples,
despite the U.S. Supreme Court's decision last year on marriage
equality,” U.S. Attorneys Joyce White Vance of the Northern
District of Alabama and Kenyen Brown of the Southern District of
Alabama said in a statement issued Wednesday night.
“We have grave concerns about this
order, which directs Alabama probate judges to disobey the ruling of
the Supreme Court. Government officials are free to disagree with
the law, but not to disobey it. This issue has been decided by the
highest court in the land and Alabama must follow that law,” the
attorneys stated.
Democratic presidential candidate
Hillary
Clinton has criticized Moore's order as “unconstitutional”
and the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has filed an ethics
complaint against Moore, asking for his removal from the bench.