Federal Judge Puts Temporary Hold on Same-Sex Marriage Decision
Alabama same-sex couples who hoped to get marriage licenses today will have to wait at a few more weeks to see if the state will legally recognize their relationships. On Friday, U.S. District Judge Callie Granade ruled in favor of a lesbian couple from Mobile who are legally married in California. The judge said Alabama violated the couple’s constitutional rights when the state didn’t allow one woman to adopt the other’s biological son.
Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange asked the judge for an indefinite stay on her decision, citing the Supreme Court’s expected ruling on gay marriage cases in June. But the judge said same-sex couples shouldn’t be left in limbo.
Instead, on Sunday she put a 14-day hold on her ruling. This will give the state time to ask the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for a lengthier stay.
The judge also indicated she’ll soon answer the key question of whether state probate judges must issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples once the stay is lifted.
Before the stay was announced on Sunday, the association representing Alabama’s probate judges said it was possible some of Alabama’s 68 probate judges would issue marriage licenses.
In Jefferson County, probate judges in Birmingham and Bessemer planned to issue marriage licensees before the stay was announced.
WBHM’s Ashley Cleek spoke to a couple seeking a marriage license who were turned away this morning at the Jefferson County Courthouse. The chief clerk, Jackie Rhodes, said she couldn’t issue marriage licenses, but told the couple they should come back on February 9 or 11.
The Anniston Star reports that couples were turned away in Calhoun county, too.
Pentagon says it’s cutting ties with ‘woke’ Harvard, ending military training
Amid an ongoing standoff between Harvard and the White House, the Defense Department said it plans to cut ties with the Ivy League — ending military training, fellowships and certificate programs.
‘Washington Post’ CEO resigns after going AWOL during massive job cuts
Washington Post chief executive and publisher Will Lewis has resigned just days after the newspaper announced massive layoffs.
After the Fall: How Olympic figure skaters soar after stumbling on the ice
Olympic figure skating is often seems to take athletes to the very edge of perfection, but even the greatest stumble and fall. How do they pull themselves together again on the biggest world stage? Toughness, poise and practice.
They’re cured of leprosy. Why do they still live in leprosy colonies?
Leprosy is one of the least contagious diseases around — and perhaps one of the most misunderstood. The colonies are relics of a not-too-distant past when those diagnosed with leprosy were exiled.
This season, ‘The Pitt’ is about what doesn’t happen in one day
The first season of The Pitt was about acute problems. The second is about chronic ones.
Lindsey Vonn is set to ski the Olympic downhill race with a torn ACL. How?
An ACL tear would keep almost any other athlete from competing -- but not Lindsey Vonn, the 41-year-old superstar skier who is determined to cap off an incredible comeback from retirement with one last shot at an Olympic medal.
