The Supreme Court of Alabama’s chief justice ordered officials to stop issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples on Wednesday, NBC News reported.
Roy Moore said Alabama's probate judges were unsure of whether to abide by a ruling from the Alabama Supreme Court last March — which upheld the ban on same-sex marriage — or the U.S. Supreme Court’s June ruling which declared such bans unconstitutional.
But in May, a federal judge in Alabama issued a ruling declaring the state’s ban invalid and forbade probate judges to deny marriage licenses to gay couples.
Legal experts say the effect on Moore's order will likely be minimal and short-lived.
