Neighboring Montgomery County, Pennsylvania has been ordered by a court to cease issuing marriage licenses to gay couples.
A Pennsylvania judge on Thursday ordered a Montgomery County court official to stop issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, saying that a court clerk does not have the authority to decide whether the state rules are constitutional.
The state’s Health Department sued Montgomery County Register of Wills D. Bruce Hanes in August after he began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, following the U.S. Supreme Court’s June ruling that the federal government must recognize same-sex unions in states where they are legal.
“A clerk of courts has not been given the discretion to decide that a law … he or she is charged to enforce is a good idea or bad one, constitutional or not,” Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court President Judge Dan Pellegrini wrote in an opinion issued on Thursday. “Only courts have the power to make that decision.”
Hanes said he was disappointed by the ruling but would comply with it, while deciding whether to appeal.
I can’t really argue with the ruling, but it should set things up for an interesting set of appeals.