MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The curtain abruptly fell Wednesday on Alabama’s brief experiment in same-sex marriage.  Across the state, all 48 county probate offices that had been issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples decided they could no longer do so, according to a count conducted by the Human Rights Campaign, a gay-rights group. The night before, the Alabama Supreme Court issued a ruling ordering them to comply with an existing state ban on same-sex marriage — even though it has been found unconstitutional by a federal district judge.  The 134-page ruling, cheered by opponents and derided by gay-rights supporters, again pushed Alabama into confusing and largely uncharted legal territory, raising questions of state and judicial authority. Several analysts said that while the state court might have had the legal right to essentially contradict the federal district court’s ruling, it was nonetheless a stunning act of defiance, given that many expect the United States Supreme Court to rule in favor of same-sex marriage for all 50 states later this year.  “This is thumbing the nose of the Alabama Supreme Court at the U.S. Supreme Court but it’s not directly defying it,” said Laurence H. Tribe, a professor of constitutional law at Harvard. “It’s coming as close to defiance as it could without actually sort of jumping into the pit.”  In Mobile County — where same-sex couples had publicly rejoiced, in mid-February, over their ability to marry — the probate office issued a statement on its website Wednesday saying that it would not issue marriage licenses to anyone, gay or straight, for now.  “The court and its legal counsel are currently evaluating this opinion and its effect on the Mobile County Probate Court, given the recent rulings of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama,” the probate court said on its website. “Until said analysis is completed, the court will not issue any marriage license to any applicants. We regret having to take this action, but feel it is necessary given the unprecedented circumstances that currently exist.”  In Montgomery County, which includes the capital, Probate Judge Steven L. Reed said he would suspend his office’s policy of issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. But he stopped short of putting an end to all licenses.  ”As a named party in continuing litigation on this matter, I am bound by this order from the state’s highest court, whether I agree with it or not,” Judge Reed said. “As one who has the utmost respect for the rule of law, the Montgomery County Probate Court will continue to issue marriage licenses and perform marriage ceremonies. However, we will no longer issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples until provided legal clearance to do so by the Alabama Supreme Court or additional action by the federal court.”  The State Supreme Court’s 7-1 ruling came in response to a petition originally filed by two conservative groups, the Alabama Policy Institute and the Alabama Citizens Action Program. Representatives for the groups said they hoped the ruling would put an end to all same-sex marriages in the state for the time being and alleviate the widespread confusion until the United States Supreme Court takes up the matter of whether gay marriage should be legal in all 50 states later this year.  In a statement, the Alabama Policy Institute said the ruling “gives the people of Alabama the respect that they deserve by preserving our law until the U.S. Supreme Court resolves the issue. The sanctity of marriage — an institute that has always been reserved for the states — is a cause worth fighting for, for as long as the States still have their rightful say in the matter.”  In the lengthy opinion, the Alabama justices insisted that they had the right to interpret the United States Constitution independently of earlier lower federal court rulings that found that the same-sex marriage ban violated the Equal Protection Clause and the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The state justices noted that Alabama law allows marriage only between a man and a woman, and that the probate judges “have a ministerial duty not to issue any marriage licenses contrary to this law.”  Gay rights advocates were shocked and angered by the ruling, and their lawyers said that same-sex couples seeking to marry could bring federal lawsuits in an effort to regain the right to marry.  “The attorneys representing couples are examining those options right now, and there certainly is further litigation that could restore marriage equality in Alabama,” said Shannon P. Minter, legal director for the National Center for Lesbian Rights, and a lawyer for four same-sex couples who brought lawsuits seeking the right to marry.  “We’re through the looking glass here,” said David Kennedy, who represented another couple in a federal court case. “There is no matrix for what comes next when the Alabama Supreme Court attempts to pull judicial nullification on a federal court. We’ve seen it with governors and attorneys general before but I’ve never seen it with a state supreme court.”  Mr. Kennedy said there were many unanswered questions after last night’s ruling. For one, a marriage certificate is a two-step process, involving the application and then, after the ceremony, a stamp of approval by the probate judge. What happens to the many same sex couples who have already successfully obtained their marriage licenses but have not received the stamp? What about couples that have already completed the entire official process, but whose marriages are now not to be recognized by the state?  “There may be some people out there that are fully married but who at this point the state would not allow them to get divorced,” Mr. Kennedy said.  Algert S. Agricola Jr., a lawyer for the Alabama Probate Judges Association, declined to comment on Tuesday about the nature of the advice the group was offering its members. Although probate judges are not bound by any guidance the group issues, many follow it.  Richard Fausset reported from Atlanta and Alan Blinder from Montgomery, Ala. Campbell Robertson contributed from New Orleans.
All the county probate judges in the state who had been giving same-sex couples marriage licenses said they were no longer doing so.