Judge has ordered the clerk of the state’s third-largest county to start issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples or show why that shouldn’t happen, a move that comes as gay couples flock to Dona County that began granting them licenses this week.
Santa Fe County Commissioner Liz Stefanics and partner Linda Siegle received a marriage license from Santa Fe County Clerk Geraldine Salazar on Friday.Santa Fe County Clerk Geraldine Salazar announced that she will begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex applicants Friday afternoon, thus complying with an alternative writ of mandamus issued by District Judge Sarah Singleton.
“I am a fervent supporter of same-sex marriage in New Mexico and have always believed that the restrictive and antiquated statutes in our State must fall to principles of equal protection embodied in our Constitution. I have been frustrated recently wanting to issue licenses but being confronted with long-standing statutes that do not permit it. Now that Judge Singleton has ordered me to issue a license to Messrs. Hanna and Hudson on constitutional grounds, I intend to do so and to issue a license to any same-sex couple who desires one and are otherwise qualified. By complying with the Judge’s order, we will be issuing licenses legally and will not continue to use limited county resources on further litigation,” she said in a statement.
Also this From State Senator Bill Sharer, this statement was made before the Santa Fe County Clerk joined in: “The Dona Ana County Clerk’s actions should offend the senses of everyone.
In a nation of laws governed by a constitution, the legislators are the duly elected lawmakers. But even the legislators must have the consent of the executive. A county clerk simply should not be allowed to create law out of thin air.
There is a way to change the law – little dictators should not be allowed to act as the sole lawgiver in a free society. My opposition to the County Clerk is based on the simple fact that he is not the dictator. He cannot change the law of New Mexico. Read past the first sentence and you will see that the law, as actually written, uses the terms male and female, bride and groom, and husband and wife.
If the law needs to be changed then use the process. Even those that disagree with me on the issue should be in mortal fear of this way of changing laws. Soon we may find a county official who declares the death penalty is legal in New Mexico and begins hanging those he feels are guilty. Be careful of the way we make these decisions.
This is not about marriage – This is about who makes the law.”
