The Reporter covers Miller, Morgan and Camden County in Central Missouri's Lake of the Ozarks and is published once per week on Wednesdays.

 

Published November 12, 2014

Legal or not? Homosexual marriage ruling leaves Recorders in gray area

 

(Editor’s note: This matter is being sent to the Missouri Supreme Court and is said to be on the “fast track” for a decision. As of press time, no decision had been made by the court to resolve this.)

By Dale Johnson
CAMDEN COUNTY – A circuit judge St. Louis has overruled the voters in the state last week when he declared the ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional.

Either that or:

A circuit judge in St. Louis has ruled that the state constitution does not apply to St. Louis.

The ruling by the judge has left counties – including Camden County – in a gray area as to whether homosexual marriage is legal or not.

The ruling states:

“The Court now ORDERS, ADJUDGES and DECREES as follows.
Plaintiff State of Missouri’s Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings is hereby DENIED.
Plaintiffs petition to permanently enjoin the Recorder of Deeds and Vital Records Registrar of the City of St. Louis from issuing marriage licenses to same sex couples is hereby DENIED…

The Court FINDS and DECLARES that Section 451.022 RSMo and Article I, Section
33 of the Missouri Constitution are unconstitutional in violation of the Equal Protection Clause and Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

The Court FINDS and DECLARES that any same sex couple that satisfies all the
requirements for marriage under Missouri law, other than being of different sexes, is legally entitled to a marriage license.

The Court FINDS and DECLARES that Defendant and any future Recorder of Deeds
and Vital Records Registrar of the City of St. Louis has the authority to issue marriage licenses to any same sex couple that satisfies all the requirements for marriage under Missouri law, other than being of different sexes.”

So in part of the ruling the judge says it is a violation of the equal protection and due process guarantees of the United States Constitution but in the other section the judge specifically applies it to “the City of St. Louis”.


That is where the trouble lies: Is it legal for the entire state or just for St. Louis?

“Our attorney for the Recorder’s Association of Missouri has been monitoring this real close and when the judgment came down she researched it,” Camden County Recorder Donnie Snelling said. “It appears to her and to me that the judgment takes great pains to state that it applies only to the city of St. Louis at this time.”

Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster has appealed the ruling which means that the final decision on the matter will rest with the Missouri Supreme Court.

“We have appealed the ruling to the Missouri Supreme Court. The constitutional challenge to Missouri’s historically recognized right to define marriage must be presented to and resolved by the state’s highest court,” Koster said.

But Koster will not ask for a stay of the judge’s order.

The judge’s ruling has caused confusion among the county recorders throughout the state because it didn’t state a clear-cut course of action for the entire state, just for St. Louis.

“What scares me is the way the ruling is worded that it can be interpreted either way,” said Snelling. “Until I get some kind of directive I’m not going to issue them. I figure I have less liability not issuing them than issuing them.”

Another problem is the marriage licenses which clearly state “bride and groom.” The state issues the forms and they have procedures for printing so recorders will also have to wait until the new forms are received.

That will depend on a judge’s decision, which Snelling thinks will come down quickly.

“It’s a very gray area at this time and I’m not going to do it,” said Snelling “There has to be some kind of directive from the attorney or a court. We can’t do something based on the news.”

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