Alabama probate judges do not have the discretion to ignore their state constitution and begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, contends the latest brief in a legal battle over the status of marriage.
“Alabama probate judges have no discretion to violate the law of Alabama, the constitution of Alabama, and the clearly expressed will of the people of Alabama,” said a reply brief submitted to the state Supreme Court.
In fact, they have no more discretion to do that than they do to follow “the courts of Hawaii, Massachusetts or Timbuktu,” the brief states.
At issue are the state’s constitutional and statutory provisions designating marriage in the state as a union only of a man and a woman after they were struck down by a federal district judge....
