TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Stacey Shrader Joslin on Jan 9, 2020

The lawyer for a conservative advocacy organization says Tennessee county clerks are violating the state constitution by issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, the Times Free Press reports. In a letter to all clerks and the governor, David Fowler, general counsel for the Family Action Council of Tennessee’s Constitutional Government Defense Fund, said the granting of same-sex marriage licenses violates Title XI Section 8 of the state constitution. That provision of the constitution states that “the relationship of one (1) man and one (1) woman shall be the only legally recognized marital contract …” in Tennessee. After the 2015 U.S. Supreme Court ruling allowing gay marriage nationwide, former Gov. Bill Haslam announced the state would follow the federal decision. State Attorney General Herbert Slatery also said Tennessee must follow the decision in spite of the apparent contradiction with its constitution.