Alabama Chief Justice orders Probate Judges not to issue marriage licenses to gay couples

Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore

Late Sunday night Alabama’s Chief Justice, Roy Moore, released an order asking probate judges not to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples starting Today.

Moore claims that all probate judges are part of Alabama’s united judicial system, and despite the recent denial of Attorney General Luther Strange’s appeal of a federal judge’s decision to strike down the ban on same sex marriage, Moore says probate judges are bound by state laws not federal ones. In his release Moore says that if probate judges do issue marriage licenses to gay couples, they could open themselves up to prosecution.