Alabama Says ‘I Don’t’ to Proposal to Do Away With Marriage Licenses

Alabama Says ‘I Don’t’ to Proposal to Do Away With Marriage Licenses

Alabama lawmakers thought they came up with a way to avoid the kind of legal strife over gay marriage that now hangs over Kentucky: do away with marriage licenses altogether.

The proposal, which nearly passed the Alabama Legislature on Tuesday, would have instructed probate judges to stop issuing marriage licenses to couples and instead recognize unions through civil contracts.

Al.com has more on the bill’s defeat:

The House voted 53-36 in favor of the bill. But it required a two-thirds vote for approval because it was not part of the governor’s call for the special session.

Rep. Jim Hill, R-Odenville, who sponsored the bill in the House, said the intent was to address some problems that have arisen since the U.S. Supreme Court ruling legalizing same-sex marriage, with some probate judges deciding not to issue marriage licenses at all.

“This would not require them to issue the marriage license but would allow the individuals to sign the contract and record it in the probate court just as you record a deed with the probate court,” Hill said….

Rep. Juandalynn Givan, D-Birmingham, said Alabamians who married under a contract might run into problems when they had to provide proof of marriage in other states. “This bill makes absolutely no sense,” Givan said. “There is no rhyme or reason for this bill.”

Hill said the marriage contracts would be recognized in other states.

The bill said probate judges would have “no authority or responsibility to make determinations of” marriage eligibility, apart from verifying ages. “This bill would provide that a religious, civil, or independent ceremony of marriage, or other officiation, or administration of the vows, may, but need not be, conducted or engaged in by the parties to the civil contract as a condition of the contract of marriage,” it stated.

Lawmakers introduced the bill Sept. 8, the same day that Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis was released from jail for contempt over her refusal for religious reasons to issue licenses to same-sex couples.

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Republished by the Law Office of Scott A. Ferris, P.A.