Alabama Supreme Court Justice Encourages Officials to Refuse Gay Marriage Licenses

Alabama's Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore is imploring local officials to deny marriage licenses to gay couples after a federal judge ruled the state's ban on same-sex marriage should be overturned earlier this year.

Moore wrote in a letter to county officials over the weekend demanding that they abide by the law of the state, rather than the ruling of U.S. District Court Judge Callie Granade, who overturned the state ban on same-sex marriage in January.

"Effective immediately, no probate judge of the state of Alabama nor any agent or employee of any Alabama Probate Judge shall issue or recognize a marriage license that is inconsistent" with a state law banning same-sex marriage, Moore wrote in the letter.

The U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled to not extend a two-week stay on the ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Callie Granade. The Supreme Court made their ruling in a 7-2 decision with Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas dissenting.

According to Bloomberg News, Thomas and Scalia wrote in their dissent that "the court looks the other way as yet another federal district judge casts aside state laws without making any effort to preserve the status quo pending the court's resolution of a constitutional question it left open" in 2013.

"This acquiescence may well be seen as a signal of the court's intended resolution of that question. This is not the proper way to discharge" the responsibilities of the court, the two justices added.

Media outlets are questioning how much weight Moore's letter holds with the 68 probate judges in the state.