Alabama Supreme Court refuses to go against equal marriage ruling
The US state of Alabama’s Supreme Court has refused to go against the US Supreme Court ruling for equal marriage.
Justices from the state’s highest court were considering a challenge which hoped to block same-sex marriage there.
But after considering the case, the court issued a one-sentence order dismissing the challenge from the Alabama Policy Institute (API).
Chief Justice Roy Moore, who is a conservative Christian and who has spoken out against equal marriage multiple times has said previous rulings against same-sex marriage there still stand.
Despite this, hundreds of same-sex weddings have taken place in Alabama.
Justice Greg Shaw, in an opinion accompanying the decision, said it was a “clear refusal” to ignore the US Supreme Court’s June ruling in favour of equal marriage.
Eric Johnston, an attorney for the API, said after the ruling that the opinion “effectively ends the case”.
In one of several written opinions accompanying the order, Justice Greg Shaw called the decision a “clear refusal” to ignore the Supreme Court ruling from last June.
The ACLU of Alabama noted that while most counties have obeyed the US Supreme Court, some have ceased to issue licences at all.
Despite this, none were known to have broken the law by refusing to marry gay couples, but continuing to marry straight ones.
