Free Republic

Rowan County, Ky., is a lesson for America in how not to resolve social conflict. The local head clerk is sitting in jail, and a judge has ordered her deputy clerks to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples in her absence.When the Supreme Court redefined marriage for the nation in an activist decision this June, it took the issue out of the democratic process and made it much harder for citizens to navigate our differences on this fundamental institution. Both sides of the debate knew the decision would have significant social effects. For civil servants like clerks who issue marriage...

Mississippi is considering pulling the plug on issuing marriage licenses altogether after the Supreme Court struck down bans on gay marriage Friday morning. As the state's governor and lieutenant governor condemned the court's decision, state House Judiciary Chairman Andy Gipson began studying ways to prevent gay marriage in Mississippi. Governor Phil Bryant said he would do all he can "to protect and defend the religious freedoms of Mississippi." To Bryant's point of doing "all" the state could do, Gipson, who is a Baptist minister, suggested removing marriage licenses entirely.

In what has been described as a new front in the battle over same-sex marriage, legislators in several states under judicial orders to confer marital status on same-sex couples have introduced bills to forbid state or local officials from issuing marriage licenses to couples of the same gender. The bills would also strip the salaries of employees who issued the licenses, the New York Times reported Thursday.The bills have been introduced in the legislatures of Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Texas, with South Carolina also considering a bill that would allow officials to opt out of issuing such licenses if it...

ACLU Nebraska has issued warnings to five counties accused of discriminating against legal immigrants seeking marriage licenses. The group has investigated several reports of county workers turning away Spanish speakers seeking to marry who are in the country legally but aren’t citizens, said legal director Amy Miller. “Government employees who make up new rules based on an applicant’s skin color have no place in Nebraska,” she said Friday. Under state law, applicants for marriage licenses must show identification verifying their name and date of birth. However, Miller said, some counties have required other things, such as a Social Security number,...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - A federal law that requires people to supply their Social Security number when applying for a marriage license has forced thousands of couples around the country, particularly illegal immigrants, to put their wedding plans on hold. The law has been on the books for about a decade and was intended to make it easier to collect child support payments. But in some places it has prevented even legal immigrants and some American citizens from getting married. Some couples are traveling to other states or other counties willing to issue them marriage licenses. Jonadad Luque, a Honduran immigrant...

<p>SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - The Social Security Administration has told its offices nationwide not to accept marriage certificates from San Francisco as proof of identification for newlyweds looking to make name changes on Social Security cards.</p> <p>The new policy doesn't just apply to the 3,344 same-sex couples that married in San Francisco during the last two weeks. Heterosexual couples who wed after Feb. 12 also need to supply documents other than San Francisco-issued marriage licenses if they want to change the names on their Social Security cards.</p>