MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Some Alabama probate judges have resumed issuing marriage licenses to gay couples despite a memorandum from the state Supreme Court’s chief justice indicating they should not do so.
Several judges suspended license operations Wednesday afternoon after Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore issued an administrative order in which he noted that the court’s directive to deny licenses had never been withdrawn.
But federal prosecutors in Alabama weighed in saying that the state’s order has been trumped by a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last June that effectively legalized gay marriage nationwide.
The prosecutors said probate judges could not disregard that ruling, regardless of Moore’s order.
Probate court officials in Madison and Lawrence counties said Thursday that they had resumed issuing licenses to all couples.
