Mobile County probate judge, Judge Don Davis, is refusing to finalize the adoption of the plaintiffs' in the marriage equality case that was ruled on last month. This adoption was the reason that the plaintiffs in the case filed the lawsuit in the first place. Judge Davis has provided for temporary relief, but refuses to finalize the adoption, so the plaintiffs have filed another lawsuit.
From AL.com:
It was Searcy's inability to adopt the boy that she and spouse Kim McKeand have raised since birth that prompted them to challenge Alabama's ban on same-sex marriage.
But with Granade's Jan. 23 ruling, the plaintiffs' attorneys argue, Davis is obligated to treat the adoption petition as he would from a heterosexual married couple.
"There is no articulable reason why Searcy is not allowed to adopt (the child) other than the fact that she is a woman married to another woman. ... There can be no legitimate question on the issue, and Hon. Don Davis has no legitimate reason for continuing to abide by the fiction that the Alabama Sanctity Laws have any effect in Alabama," the suit states.
Kennedy said the temporary order issued by Davis offers Searcy some protection but does not necessary guarantee that she would get custody if McKeand were to die suddenly between now and the time the high court is expect to settle the same-sex marriage question once and for all sometime this summer. Any number of relatives could challenge Searcy for custody and she could at the very least have to fight in court, Kennedy said.
Earlier this month, Judge Granade clarified her ruling and added probate Judge Don Davis as a defendant in the marriage equality suit. He was enjoined to recognize the plaintiffs' marriage. So, if the only reason that he is not finalizing the adoption is that the plaintiffs are of the same sex and not married according to Alabama law, it seems to me that he could be held in comtempt of court.
From Equality On Trial:
Now Searcy is suing the probate judge in federal court, asking for an order “commanding” the judge “to grant the adoption” immediately. Searcy is also asking the federal court to “strik[e]” the probate judge’s previous order putting off a final decision.
Searcy has been married since 2008 and the couple’s child was born in 2005, according to the complaint.
The complaint notes that the Mobile County probate judge has issued similar orders granting adoptions in couples involving heterosexual couples, but this order is “materially different” in that it puts off final resolution until some future point.
The newest complaint is below.