This lawsuit stems from Searcy v. Strange, (PB-AL-0005 in this Clearinghouse), in which a federal district court held that Alabama's same-sex marriage ban violated the U.S. Constitution. That case involved a same-sex couple, legally married in California, whose adoption petition was denied in Alabama because they were not considered "spouses" under a state law, which allowed a non-biological parent to adopt the spouse's child.

On February 9, 2015, the Searcy v. Strange order went into effect: the ban on same-sex marriage was now illegal in Alabama, at least according to the federal courts. The same-sex couple re-filed their adoption petition in Mobile County, Alabama.

Mobile County Probate Judge Don Davis issued an initial adoption decree but he added language saying "that this Decree is qualified in nature, and the Court will not issue a final adoption order until a final ruling is issued in the United States Supreme Court on the Marriage Act cases before it."

On February 24, 2015, the non-biological parent filed this lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama, under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, against Probate Judge Davis, claiming that he violated her rights under the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses. The plaintiff, represented by private counsel, asked the court to order the probate judge to vacate his qualified adoption order and to issue a new order without the added language.

On March 26, 2015, Judge Callie V. S. Granade granted the plaintiff's motion to dismiss. After the complaint was filed, Probate Judge Davis had removed the qualified language from the adoption decree, giving the couple what they wanted.

David Hamstra - 04/08/2015


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