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Suite 850, East Tower
Washington, DC 20005

February 20, 2015

Hon. Patrick Davenport, Probate Judge
Houston County
P.O. Box 6406
Dothan, AL 36302-6406
Dear Judge Davenport:
We write to you again on behalf of local same-sex couples that have been
unable to obtain marriage licenses from your Probate Court. Your continued refusal
to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples is inconsistent with the federal
Constitution and your sworn obligation as a judicial officer of the state of Alabama.
Moreover, your actionsin overt defiance of the Equal Protection and Due Process
Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitutionviolate
Alabamas Canons of Judicial Ethics in several regards. We thus once again insist
that you immediately take steps to ensure that marriage licenses are made
available to all qualified marriage-license applicants, regardless of sexual
orientation or gender. If you persist in your refusal, we will be forced to lodge a
complaint with the Alabama Judicial Inquiry Commission, requesting that the
Commission recommend that you face charges in the Court of the Judiciary.
As you know, on January 23, 2015, the United States District Court for the
Southern District of Alabama entered judgment in Searcy v. Strange, No. 14-0208CG-N, (S.D. Ala. Jan. 23, 2015), declaring Alabamas Marriage Protection Act and
Sanctity of Marriage Amendment invalid under the federal Constitution and
holding that the State must recognize same-sex marriages performed out-of-state.
On January 26, 2015, that same federal court entered a preliminary injunction in
Strawser v. Strange, No. 1:14-CV-424-CG-C (S.D. Ala. Jan. 26, 2015), holding that
the federal Constitution prohibits the State from denying marriage licenses to
same-sex couples. On February 9, 2015after both the United States Court of
Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit and the United States Supreme Court declined to
disturb the injunctionthe federal District Court lifted the stay on its decision.
Finally, on February 12, 2015, the District Court extended the preliminary
injunction to include Mobile County Probate Judge Don Davis, and all his officers,
agents, servants and employees, and others in active concert or participation with
any of them, who would seek to enforce the marriage laws of Alabama which
prohibit or fail to recognize same-sex marriage. Order, Searcy v. Strange, No. 140208-CG-N (S.D. Ala. Feb. 12, 2015). Subsequently, Probate Judges around the

State have begun issuing marriage licenses to all couples, same-sex and differentsex alike.
Your office, however, still refuses to comply with the clear mandate of the
federal constitution. In addition to running afoul of the federal constitution, this
action violates the fundamental prohibition set forth in Alabama Canon of Judicial
Ethics 3(A)(1) that you be faithful to the law and be unswayed by partisan
interests, public clamor, or fear of criticism. In refusing to comply with the clear
constitutional obligations set forth in the federal district courts order, which the
Eleventh Circuit and the United States Supreme Court chose not to disturb, you
have turned a blind eye to federal law and the Supremacy Clause of the United
States Constitution, which provides that [t]his Constitution, and the laws of the
United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof shall be the supreme
law of the land; and the judges in every state shall be bound thereby, any thing in
the constitution or laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding. U.S. Const.,
art VI. Your express rejection of foundational constitutional principles constitutes a
clear lack of faithfulness to the law.
Moreover, your actions foster disrespect for the dignity of the judiciary,
undermine public confidence in the integrity of the judiciary, and prejudice the
administration of justice in violation of Alabama Canons of Judicial Ethics 1 and 2.
Canon 1 obligates all probate judges to observe high standards of conduct so that
the integrity . . . of the judiciary may be preserved. Canon 2(A) requires that they
conduct [themselves] at all times in a manner that promotes public confidence in
the integrity . . . of the judiciary. These Canons obligate probate judges to exhibit
conduct that upholds the integrity of the judiciary as the impartial branch of our
government on which all Alabamians can rely for equal justice under the law.
Instead, you have willfully manifested faithlessness to our most fundamental
principles of law, and have taken affirmative steps to undermine the dignity,
confidence, and integrity of the judiciary.
As explained in our letter of February 11, 2015, your obligation to comply
with the federal Constitutionwhich has now been interpreted to forbid
discrimination against same-sex couples with respect to the issuance of marriage
licensesmust take precedence over any contrary state laws or obligations. See
U.S. Const., art VI. (This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which
shall be made in pursuance thereof shall be the supreme law of the land; and the
judges in every state shall be bound thereby, any thing in the constitution or laws of
any State to the contrary notwithstanding.). Since that letter, your constitutional
obligation has become more clear.
For these reasons, we insist that you immediately begin issuing marriage
licenses to all qualified applicants, regardless of sexual orientation or gender.

Sincerely,

Ayesha N. Khan
Legal Director