Alabama marriage equality expanded state wide

Timothy Kincaid

May 21st, 2015

bama

Through much of the spring, anti-gay politicians in Alabama have been trying to thwart Federal Judge Ginny Granade’s ruling that the state ban on same-sex marriage violates the US Constitution. And one of the ways they have sought to do so is to pretend to misunderstand the impact of the ruling. The elected officials, along with the state Supreme Court, decided that her ruling only applied to the specific plaintiffs in the case.

So marriage advocates have gone back to Judge Granade and requested that the case be expanded to a class action and that it apply to all couples in all counties of the state. Today Granade ruled. (AL.com)

A federal judge in Mobile on Thursday applied her ruling striking down Alabama’s same-sex marriage ban to all 68 probate judges in Alabama but delayed it from taking effect until the U.S. Supreme Court rules on the gay marriage issue.

Although the judge did not make her ruling immediate, she did address the silliness of the Alabama Supreme Court.

“It is true that if this Court grants the preliminary injunction the probate judges will be faced with complying with either Alabama’s marriage laws that prohibit same-sex marriage as they have been directed by the Alabama Supreme Court or with complying with the United States Constitution as directed by this Court,” Granade wrote. “However, the choice should be simple. Under the Supremacy Clause, the laws of the United States are ‘the supreme Law of the Land.'”

She added, “Judge Davis and the other probate judges cannot be held liable for violating Alabama state law when their conduct was required by the United States Constitution.”

SharonB

May 22nd, 2015

All over but the shouting, and the SCOTUS ruling, too, I guess.

Nathaniel

May 22nd, 2015

I’m a little disappointed Judge Granade didn’t make her latest ruling effective immediately, but it is understandable considering a SCOTUS ruling is only weeks away (if not sooner). Given the trouble the SCOAL has given her over this, I’m sure she thought it would save everybody some trouble to simply wait for SCOTUS to act.

Meanwhile, in Louisiana, when the state legislature rethought the wisdom of enacting a “religious liberty” law, the governor threw a tantrum and enacted what he could via executive order.

Timothy Kincaid

May 22nd, 2015

SharonB,

But we know there will be a lot of shouting.

Chris McCoy

May 22nd, 2015

The anti-federalists and the Tenthers will be the most vocal opponents. You can be assured that the most quoted reasoning will be some variation of either, “The Federal Government has no jurisdiction in this matter” or “God’s law supercedes Federal law”.

Even if the SCOTUS rules in our favor, you can be assured that the same opponents to marriage equality now will make the same above arguments in attempt to ignore that ruling, too.

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