Several Florida County Clerks have decided to end performing marriage ceremonies at the courthouse, though they will still issue licenses. Clerks in Duval, Clay, Baker, Santa Rosa and Okaloosa counties have announced they are ending courthouse ceremonies. Walton Clerk of Courts Alex Alford is quoted in the Daily News as saying his office will still perform the ceremonies. A judge made a decision concerning the Clerk of Courts in Washington County.
The court’s August ruling said the Florida marriage ban is unconstitutional was the result of two cases; one brought by the American Civil Liberties Union ACLU of Florida on behalf of eight couples, a Fort Myers widow, and SAVE, South Florida’s largest LGBT rights organization; the other by Jacksonville attorneys William Sheppard and Sam Jacobson on behalf of two couples.
The Washington County Clerk of Court, named as a defendant in the case brought by Sheppard and Jacobson, filed a motion for clarification asking Judge Hinkle to clarify the scope of the injunction. Some felt the motion only applied to Washington County. Many Florida clerks have been waiting for the judges clarification.
New Year’s day, U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle issued an order clarifying that all Florida clerks should begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples when the stay expires at the end of the day on January 5. Judge Hinkle explained that while his injunction applies only to the named defendants, because his August 21 ruling held that the marriage ban is unconstitutional, the Constitution requires clerks to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
Some of the CLerks cited the same sex ruling as well as other issues such as budget decisions.
