Pennsylvania judge orders clerk to stop issuing same-sex marriage licenses

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A judge ordered a suburban Philadelphia clerk to stop issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, saying that the Montgomery Country clerk did not have the power to decide individually whether Pennsylvania’s same-sex marriage ban violates the state constitution.

“Unless and until either the General Assembly repeals or suspends the Marriage Law provisions or a court of competent jurisdiction orders that the law is not to be obeyed or enforced, the Marriage Law in its entirety is to be obeyed and enforced by all commonwealth public officials,” Commonwealth Court Judge Pellegrini wrote.

Shortly after Wills D. Bruce Hanes began giving out the licenses the state Health Department began suing him, claiming his actions would lead to chaos. Yet Hanes maintains that he followed the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in The United States vs. Windsor which found that the Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional.

H/T Jordan Vesey