.US District Judge Robert Hinkle issued a clarifying order on New Year’s Day that all of Florida’s county clerks have a legal duty to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples seeking to wed. The state attorney general’s office had argued on Monday that the judge’s preliminary injunction only applied to one same-sex couple seeking to marry in one county.
Judge Hinkle wrote that his original ruling Aug. 21 found that Florida’s ban on gay marriage was unconstitutional. Thus, the US Constitution – not his preliminary injunction – governs the actions of the state’s county clerks. He also warned that if county clerks do not follow his ruling, they could be sued.
“The result was an explicit ruling that Florida’s same-sex-marriage ban is unconstitutional,” Hinkle wrote. “The preliminary injunction now in effect thus does not require the Clerk to issue licenses to other applicants. But as set out in the order that announced issuance of the preliminary injunction, the Constitution requires the Clerk to issue such licenses.”