A federal judge declined to lift an order requiring Mobile County’s probate judge to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, keeping the county at the center of Alabama’s marriage law standoff even after the state Supreme Court issued a conflicting directive.
Attorneys for Mobile County Probate Judge Don Davis had asked U.S. District Judge Callie V.S. “Ginny” Granade to pause her earlier order in light of a subsequent Alabama Supreme Court ruling that specifically instructed Davis and other probate judges not to issue licenses to same-sex couples while the U.S. Supreme Court considered the broader issue nationally. Granade rejected the request, finding that Davis had not shown he would be harmed by keeping her order in place or that he was likely to ultimately win the underlying case.
“Although the court would agree that the developments in these same-sex marriage cases has at times seemed dizzying, the court finds that Judge Davis has not shown that a stay is warranted,” Granade wrote in her ruling.
The decision left Davis caught between two conflicting court orders. His attorneys could not immediately be reached for comment following the ruling. The Mobile County marriage license office had been closed to all couples, gay and straight alike, since early March as the legal conflict played out.
Heather Fann, an attorney representing gay couples seeking marriage licenses in Mobile County, welcomed the ruling. “I think she’s just holding firm to her position that the same-sex marriage ban is unconstitutional,” Fann said, noting that as long as Davis continued withholding licenses from opposite-sex couples as well, he remained technically in compliance with the federal order.
Granade had originally ruled in January that Alabama’s ban on same-sex marriage violated the U.S. Constitution, delaying enforcement of that ruling briefly to give the state a chance to appeal. After the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court both declined to intervene, Granade’s order took effect, though many of Alabama’s probate judges, including Davis, initially refused to comply. Granade later issued a Mobile County-specific order compelling Davis to follow the ruling.
The underlying lawsuit began with a west Mobile County couple who filed suit on their own and won an early ruling from Granade allowing them to marry. Attorneys later joined the case to represent additional plaintiffs, including a Mobile-based couple, and asked Granade to certify the case as a class action that could apply statewide to all 68 Alabama probate judges. Granade had not yet ruled on that broader request.