Same-sex marriages in Alabama have been halted after the state's Supreme Court ordered probate judges to stop issuing marriage licenses to gay couples on Tuesday.
The move comes less than two months after a federal judge overturned the state's gay marriage ban, and confusion over whether the probate judges had to comply with the decision.
Alabama Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore assured the judges that they did not have to issue licenses to same-sex couples, and several judges declined to do so.
Elmore County Probate Judge John E Enslen asked the Supreme Court for clarification on the matter, leading to this week's ruling.
"As it has done for approximately two centuries, Alabama law allows for 'marriage' between only one man and one woman," the majority decision read.
"Alabama probate judges have a ministerial duty not to issue any marriage license contrary to this law. Nothing in the United States Constitution alters or overrides this duty."
Justice Jim Main concurred in part and with the result, while Justice Greg Shaw was the lone dissenter.
Shaw asserted that the Court did not have jurisdiction over the case, public interest groups cannot sue in the State's name, the petition was "procedurally deficient," and that the Court was addressing issues not presented.
He also insisted that the Court's decision on gay marriage "cannot meaningfully impact because the Supreme Court of the United States will soon rule on it," and the lower court's ruling "will result in additional confusion and more costly federal litigation involving this State's probate judges."
The US Supreme Court is currently hearing arguments for and against the constitutionality of gay marriage bans in Michigan, Ohio, Tennessee, and Kentucky, and is expected to make a decision by the end of June 2015.
