A judge’s ruling Wednesday appears to clear the way for the Orange County clerk of court to start issuing marriage licenses for same-sex couples next week.
That’s after Clerk of Court Tiffany Moore Russell filed an emergency petition asking for clarification.
A federal judge’s ruling in a North Florida case found Florida’s same-sex marriage laws unconstitutional.
That ruling takes effect Jan. 6, but Florida's clerks of court association said the ruling only applies in Washington County
On Tuesday, Tiffany Moore Russell asked the Ninth Judicial Circuit Court in Orange and Osceola Counties to rule on whether she’s within her legal right to issue same-sex marriage licenses
In his ruling, Circuit Judge Timothy Shea wrote that Moore Russell can rely on the decision in the Washington County case, and if she issues same-sex marriage licenses she would not be violating criminal or civil laws.
