Source: Nelson Hancock / Getty
Pike County, Alabama Probate Judge Wes Allen is not issuing marriage licenses to gay couples, despite a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that marriage is a constitutional right equally held by all Americans. He is among a handful of public officials across the south eastern and south central states (commonly referred to as Bible Belt) that they are defying the U.S. Supreme Court and refusing to issue a license to anyone, gay or straight.
Allen and other probate judges in the state feels as though they are protected by Alabama Code section 30-1-9, which says marriage licenses “may” be issued by them but not that they have to issue them. Even in Kentucky, Rowan County clerk Kim Davis told a lesbian couple who walked in asking for a license to try another county.
Other judges and clerks in Texas have followed in the same footsteps, ordering their offices in the name of religious liberty and free speech to not issue marriage licenses at all. According to constitutional law professor at the Louis D. Brandeis School of Law at the University of Louisville Sam Marcosson, in regards to punishment if a Kentucky clerk won’t issue a marriage license to a same-sex couple they can either resign, or go to jail.
Warren County Attorney and president of the Kentucky County Attorneys Association Ann Milliken say’s that those officials who are opposing the Supreme Court decision are also risking criminal official misconduct charges. In order to get a marriage license you would normally have to go through clerks and probate and in many rural areas, there are few alternatives for hundreds of miles.
After the Supreme Court decision, many clerks in Arkansas and Mississippi resigned Tuesday rather than be forced to sign the licenses of gays and lesbians.
Unlike other offices, the office of Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway encouraged any couples who are turned away to seek private counsel. According to Marcosson, couples who are turned away also have the option to seek a court order to get their marriage license.
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