Smooth transition to marriage equality in Georgia

While Alabama's Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore encouraged county clerks to defy the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on marriage equality, and Louisiana's Gov. Bobby Jindal made a fool of himself (again) by saying we should just get rid of SCOTUS, we had a completely different reaction from our government officials here in Georgia.

Even Gov. Nathan Deal agreed that marriage equality was now the law of the land.     But it was really the state probate judges that made the difference.   As far back as February they held a meeting to begin preparations for the anticipated ruling.   Every judge in the meeting was in agreement -- that Georgia would be prepared and would carry out the new law smoothly.

According to an Atlanta Journal-Constitution article by Craig Schneider and Greg Bluestein on July 11, it was this leadership from the judges that made possible the smooth transition:  "The judges started preparing months before the ruling, making it clear it would be obeyed. They created a unity of purpose among their ranks, and they had everything ready to go once the decision came down."

Georgia State University sociology professor Eric Wright said that this could pay off in the business community, casting Georgia as tolerant of diversity that is important in attracting national businesses to move to the state.

In that February meeting, the president of the State Council of Probate Judges started the meeting by reminding everyone that judges take an oath to uphold the law and that Georgia will treat this law no differently.    He emphasized that everything should be planned and in place, every question answered in advance.   New license applications were printed in advance, changing "bride" and "groom" to "Applicant 1" and "Applicant 2."

At a statewide meeting in March, attended by virtually all of the 150 Georgia probate judges, an education plan was begun, followed up by emails every few weeks to the judges.   

In April, Georgia's governor and attorney general both announced that Georgia would respect the court's decision, whatever that turned out to be.   In contrast, in Texas and Louisiana and Alabama, there were defiant boasts from governors and attorneys general about not obeying the law.  The resulting confusion was not resolved for a week or more after the ruling on June 26th.

In contrast, Georgia's Attorney General Sam Olens released his ruling in less than 2 hours after SCOTUS' announcement -- marriage licenses were issued and marriages were performed by noon on the 26th.

The AJC  reported that "Atlanta’s major businesses largely cheered the rulings. Delta Air Lines quickly bought billboards celebrating the court’s decision and issued a statement announcing it welcomed the ruling with 'great enthusiasm.'”

On this occasion, Georgia stood tall and proud.

Ralph