WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Yesterday, the Alabama Supreme Court ordered probate court judges in the state to stop issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
In the majority order, in which Chief Justice Roy Moore did not participate, the Alabama high court stated, "As it has done for approximately two centuries, Alabama law allows for 'marriage' between only one man and one woman. Alabama probate judges have a ministerial duty not to issue any marriage license contrary to this law," the opinion reads. "Nothing in the United States Constitution alters or overrides this duty." The Court made the point that its judges are not required, by well-established precedent, to follow the dictates of a mere federal district court judge regarding the constitutionality of its laws. Rather, obedience to the federal judiciary would follow a decision by the Supreme Court of the United States.
Family Research Council President Tony Perkins gave the following comment on the order in Alabama:
"I applaud the Alabama Justices in their wise decision respecting the freedom of Alabama's voters to uphold natural marriage. In a refreshing change, Alabama's Supreme Court is using the law to determine their actions -- not a politically motivated opinion of a lower court federal judge.
"I again urge caution for any court, state or federal, whether a state Supreme Court or the U.S. Supreme Court, that wants to redefine marriage. Recent polling shows sixty-one percent of Americans oppose the US Supreme Court forcing marriage redefinition on all fifty states. If Americans were truly on board with this effort to redefine marriage, governors, state attorneys general, and other elected officials wouldn't bother fighting it. Instead, the Alabama Supreme Court reflects where the American people really are on the issue --and it is respecting the freedom of the voters to uphold natural marriage," concluded Perkins.
To review the results of the WPA Opinion Research survey, click here: http://downloads.frc.org/EF/EF15B71.pdf
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