UPDATED Judge: Clerks have duty to issue same-sex marriage licenses [View all]

[DonViejo]

Last edited Thu Jan 1, 2015, 07:45 PM - Edit history (1)

Source: ASSOCIATED PRESS

MIAMI (AP) — A federal judge says that Florida’s county court clerks have a legal duty to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, but he has stopped short of ordering them to do so.

U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle issued a ruling Thursday in Tallahassee federal court responding to requests to clarify his previous order that Florida’s same-sex marriage ban was unconstitutional. He stayed that order, but the stay is scheduled to expire at the end of the day Monday.

The association representing county clerks said the ruling applies only to Washington County, where a lawsuit filed by two men became a key basis for Hinkle’s order. Gay rights groups said Hinkle’s order applies statewide. Hinkle warned Thursday that clerks who don’t start issuing the licenses when the stay expires could face future lawsuits or other legal consequences.

“History records no shortage of instances when state officials defied federal court orders on issues of federal constitutional law. Happily, there are many more instances when responsible officials followed the law, like it or not. Reasonable people can debate whether the ruling in this case was correct and who it binds. There should be no debate, however, on the question whether a clerk of court may follow the ruling, even for marriage-license applicants who are not parties to this case,” Hinkle wrote. Hinkle said while his order doesn’t require a clerk to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, “the Constitution requires the clerk to issue such licenses.”

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Read more: http://www.salon.com/2015/01/01/judge_clerks_have_duty_to_issue_same_sex_marriage_licenses/

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UPDATE:

Read the full decision, here: http://www.scribd.com/doc/251461351/4-14-cv-00107-109-Florida-Federal-Order