Chief Justice Moore Issues Order To Halt Same-Sex Marriage In Alabama

by Summre Raines
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MOORE-master675MONTGOMERY-On Wednesday, January 6 Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore issued an order directing probate judges across Alabama to no longer issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

The order states  “…..Until further decision by the Alabama Supreme Court, the existing orders of the Alabama Supreme Court that Alabama probate judges have a ministerial duty not to issue any marriage license contrary to the Alabama Sanctity of Marriage Amendment or the Alabama Marriage Protection Act remain in full force and effect….”

It is not clear if any probate judges have stopped issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

A copy of the order:

ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER OF THE 

CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE ALABAMA SUPREME COURT

WHEREAS, IN CONSIDERATION OF THE FOLLOWING:
On March 3, 2015 the Alabama Supreme Court issued a
lengthy opinion upholding the constitutionality of Article I,
Section 36.03(b), Ala. Const. 1901 (“the Sanctity of Marriage
Amendment”), and Section 30-1-19(b), Ala. Code 1975 (“the
Marriage Protection Act”), which both state: “Marriage is
inherently a unique relationship between a man and a woman.”
Ex parte State ex rel. Alabama Policy Institute, [Ms. 1140460,
March 3, 2015] ___ So. 3d ___ (Ala 2015) (hereinafter “API”).
The API opinion relied on earlier opinions of the United
States Supreme Court and the Alabama Supreme Court for
authority. In 1885 the Supreme Court of the United States
described marriage as “the union for life of one man and one
woman in the holy estate of matrimony; the sure foundation of
all that is stable and noble in our civilization; the best
guaranty of that reverent morality which is the source of all
beneficent progress in social and political improvement.”
Murphy v. Ramsey, 114 U.S. 15, 45. The Alabama Supreme Court
similarly stated that “‘[T]he relation of marriage is founded
on the will of God, and the nature of man; and it is the
foundation of all moral improvement, and all true happiness.'”
Goodrich v. Goodrich, 44 Ala. 670, 675 (1870).
In its March 3 order in API, the Alabama Supreme Court
stated that “Alabama probate judges have a ministerial duty
not to issue any marriage license contrary to [the Sanctity of
Marriage Amendment or the Marriage Protection Act]. Nothing in
the United States Constitution alters or overrides this duty.”
A week later the Court reaffirmed that its March 3 order
bound every Alabama probate judge “to the end of achieving
order and uniformity in the application of Alabama’s marriage
laws.” API (Order of March 10, 2015). The Court also stated
that “all probate judges in this State may issue marriage
licenses only in accordance with Alabama law as described in
our opinion of March 3, 2015.” API (Order of March 12, 2015).
On June 26, 2015, approximately three months after the
Alabama Supreme Court issued its orders in API, the United
States Supreme Court in Obergefell v Hodges, 135 S. Ct. 2584
(2015), held unconstitutional certain marriage laws in the
states of Michigan, Kentucky, Ohio, and Tennessee, which fall
within the jurisdiction of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.
In its 5-4 opinion the high court noted that “[t]hese cases
come from Michigan, Kentucky, Ohio, and Tennessee.”
Obergefell, 135 S. Ct. at 2593.
On June 29, 2015, three days after the issuance of the
Obergefell opinion, the Alabama Supreme Court invited the
parties in API to address the “effect of the Supreme Court’s
decision on this Court’s existing orders in this case no later
than 5:00 p.m. on Monday, July 6.” API (Order of June 29,
2015) (emphasis added).
Several parties filed briefs in response to that request.
Additionally, on Sept 16, 2015, Washington County Probate
Judge Nick Williams filed an “Emergency Petition for
Declaratory Judgement and/or Protective Order in Light of
Jailing of Kentucky Clerk Kim Davis,” which requested the
Court “to prevent the imprisonment and ruin of their State’s
probate judges who maintain fidelity to their oath of office
and their faith.” On September 22, Elmore County Probate Judge
John Enslen joined Judge Williams’s Emergency Petition. On
October 5, Judge Enslen filed a separate petition for a
declaratory judgment arguing additional grounds for relief.
In October, Eunie Smith, President of the Eagle Forum of
Alabama and Dr. John Killian, Sr., former President of the
Alabama Baptist State Convention, published a guest opinion on
AL.com stating that they “anxiously await” the pending
decision on the effect of Obergefell on the orders in API. In
December, the Southeast Law Institute of Birmingham, whose
President is local counsel for some of the parties in API,
stated in an online commentary that he was “encouraging all of
those who have great concern over this issue to be prayerfully
patient” as the Court deliberates.
Confusion and uncertainty exist among the probate judges
of this State as to the effect of Obergefell on the “existing
orders” in API. Many probate judges are issuing marriage
licenses to same-sex couples in accordance with Obergefell;
others are issuing marriage licenses only to couples of the
opposite gender or have ceased issuing all marriage licenses.
This disparity affects the administration of justice in this
State.
2
I am not at liberty to provide any guidance to Alabama
probate judges on the effect of Obergefell on the existing
orders of the Alabama Supreme Court. That issue remains before
the entire Court which continues to deliberate on the matter.
Nevertheless, recent developments of potential relevance
since Obergefell may impact this issue. The United States
Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit recently ruled that
Obergefell did not directly invalidate the marriage laws of
states under its jurisdiction. While applying Obergefell as
precedent, the Eighth Circuit rejected the Nebraska
defendants’ suggestion that Obergefell mooted the case. The
Eighth Circuit stated: “The [Obergefell] Court invalidated
laws in Michigan, Kentucky, Ohio, and Tennessee — not
Nebraska.” Waters v Ricketts, 798 F.3d 682, 685 (8th Cir.
2015) (emphasis added). In two other cases the Eighth Circuit
repeated its statement that Obergefell directly invalidated
only the laws of the four states in the Sixth Circuit. See
Jernigan v Crane,796 F.3d 976, 979 (8th Cir. 2015) (“not
Arkansas”); Rosenbrahn v Daugaard, 799 F.3d 918, 922 (8th Cir
2015) (“not South Dakota”).
The United States District Court for the District of
Kansas was even more explicit: “While Obergefell is clearly
controlling Supreme Court precedent, it did not directly
strike down the provisions of the Kansas Constitution and
statutes that bar the issuance of same-sex marriage licenses
….” Marie v Mosier, 2015 WL 4724389 (D. Kan. August 10,
2015). Rejecting the Kansas defendants’ claim that Obergefell
mooted the case, the District Court stated that “Obergefell
did not rule on the Kansas plaintiffs’ claims.” Id.
The above cases reflect an elementary principle of
federal jurisdiction: a judgment only binds the parties to the
case before the court. “A judgment or decree among parties to
a lawsuit resolves issues as among them, but it does not
conclude the rights of strangers to those proceedings.” Martin
v. Wilks, 490 U.S. 755, 762 (1989). “[N]o court can make a
decree which will bind anyone but a party … no matter how
broadly it words its decree.” Alemite Mfg. Corp. v Staff, 42
F.3d 832, 832 (2d Cir. 1930). See also Rule 65, Fed R. Civ.
P., on the scope of an injunction.
Whether or not the Alabama Supreme Court will apply the
3
reasoning of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth
Circuit, the United States District Court for the District of
Kansas, or some other legal analysis is yet to be determined.
Yet the fact remains that the administration of justice in the
State of Alabama has been adversely affected by the apparent
conflict between the decision of the Alabama Supreme Court in
API and the decision of the United States Supreme Court in
Obergefell.
NOW THEREFORE,
As Administrative Head of the Unified Judicial System of
Alabama, authorized and empowered pursuant to Section
12-2-30(b)(7), Ala. Code 1975, to “take affirmative and
appropriate action to correct or alleviate any condition or
situation adversely affecting the administration of justice
within the state,” and under Section 12-2-30(b)(8), Ala. Code
1975, to “take any such other, further or additional action as
may be necessary for the orderly administration of justice
within the state, whether or not enumerated in this section or
elsewhere”;
And in that “an order issued by a court with jurisdiction
over the subject matter and person must be obeyed by the
parties until it is reversed by orderly and proper
proceedings.” United States v. Mine Workers, 330 U.S. 258, 293
(1947) (quoted in Fields v. City of Fairfield, 143 So. 2d 177,
180 (Ala. 1962));
IT IS ORDERED AND DIRECTED THAT:
Until further decision by the Alabama Supreme Court, the
existing orders of the Alabama Supreme Court that Alabama
probate judges have a ministerial duty not to issue any
marriage license contrary to the Alabama Sanctity of Marriage
Amendment or the Alabama Marriage Protection Act remain in
full force and effect.
DONE January 6, 2016.
Roy S. Moore Chief Justice

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