Marriage has begun in Alabama, according to the Alabama Media Group, despite orders to the contrary from the chief justice of the state Supreme Court.
Meanwhile, Human Rights Campaign has launched a petition to remove Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore from office. Moore urged the governor of Alabama and probate judges, who issue licenses in the state, to stand in the way of same-sex marriages despite an explicit order by a federal judge.
The HRC petition calls on the Judicial Inquiry Commission to take action against Moore — who previously declared that homosexuality should be a punishable offense and grounds for losing parental custody — for shirking the law and the obligations of his office.
Alabama State Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore
U.S. House Speaker John Boehner is sitting this round out, according to the Washington Blade. Asked if the House Republican leadership would weigh in on the outcome of pending marriage equality litigation before the Supreme Court in an official capacity, Boehner said, “I don’t expect that we’re going to. The court will make its decision and that’s why they’re there, to be the highest court in the land.”
Unlike in the Windsor case, where the federal government was a party in the case and the GOP congressional leadership spent $2.3 million in taxpayer dollars to defend the law, the federal government is not a party in the current case pending before the Supreme Court.