Despite Supreme Court, no marriage licenses for same sex couple in Nassau

Submitted by Anne H. Oman

Reporter-at-Large

December 23, 2014 1:00 a.m.

Although the U.S. Supreme Court last week denied Florida’s bid to stay its ban on same sex marriage, the Nassau County Clerk’s office will not be issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples on January 6, according to an employee of the licensing office who declined to be identified in print.

“As of right now, “ she said, “we are following the advice of the FACC (the Florida Association of Clerks and Comptrollers) that we should not issue these licenses until there is a binding order by a court of jurisdiction.”

It is the position of the FACC that the Supreme Court ruling is “not binding on any person, including a clerk of court, who is not a named party in the action.”

The FACC, on the advice of its counsel, the national law firm Greenberg-Traurig, holds that the ruling applies only to the clerk of Washington County, in the Florida Panhandle. The law firm warned that other clerks who go ahead and issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples would face fines or imprisonment.

But the advocacy group Equality Florida warned that clerks “have a legal obligation to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples – or face expensive litigation.”

Watch this space for further developments. But, for now, hold the wedding finery.

Editor's Note: Anne H. Oman relocated to Fernandina Beach from Washington, D.C. Her articles have appeared in The Washington Post, The Washington Star, The Washington Times, Family Circle and other publications.