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In a one-sentence
order, the high court turned aside a lawsuit by the Alabama
Citizens Action Program and the Alabama Policy Institute
questioning the landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year
that effectively allowed same-sex unions.
"It is ordered that all pending motions and petitions are
dismissed," the court said in ending the legal battle.
The court fight started in January 2015 when a federal judge in
Alabama overturned the state's ban on same-sex marriage.
Some state courts went along, others balked. The Mobile County
probate court said at the time that it would stop issuing
marriage licenses to anyone, gay or straight, until further
notice.
Subsequent lawsuits ended up in the state Supreme Court,
culminating in Friday's decision.
Chief Justice Roy Moore, an outspoken opponent of same-sex
unions, wrote a long opinion attacking the decision.
Richard Cohen, president of the Alabama-based civil rights
group, the Southern Law Poverty Center, applauded the ruling but
said the court did not go far enough.
"You can go to any courthouse in Alabama on Monday and get a
marriage license, except for those few holdouts that aren't
issuing licenses to anyone, gay or straight," Cohen said.
He said he wished that the court's wording was stronger and
criticized state high court justices who dissented against the
ruling.
Joe Godfrey, executive director of Alabama Citizens Action
Program, said the group might turn to the state legislature for
laws that would protect judges and clerks from having to perform
same-sex unions against their religious convictions.
(Reporting by Ian Simpson; Editing by Sandra Maler)
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