Echo from the Past: Chief Judge of Alabama Supreme Court Blocks Order of the United States Supreme Court

Chief Judge Ray Moore of the Alabama Supreme Court, in his capacity as administrator of all the state courts, has ordered clerks across the state to cease issuing marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples. This is not the first time that Judge Moore has issued such an order. He did so on February 8, 2015, before the Supreme Court issued its decision in Obergefell v. Hodges. Here is the essay I posted at that time, and here is the blog entry posted a few days later discussing the Supreme Court's refusal to enter a stay on behalf of the State of Alabama. Nor is this the first time that the Alabama Supreme Court has disobeyed the United States Supreme Court in a matter relating to civil rights.