South Carolina Supreme Court tells judges not to issue same-sex marriage licenses for now

COLUMBIA, S.C. – The South Carolina Supreme Court is ordering state probate courts not to issue same-sex marriage licenses until a federal judge decides whether the state constitution’s ban on the unions is legal.

The justices issued a ruling late Thursday morning, a day after Probate Court Judge Irving Condon began accepting applications for the licenses. He based the move on a ruling overturning Virginia’s same-sex marriage ban by a court with jurisdiction over South Carolina.

The Supreme Court’s order disappointed dozens of gay couples in a whirlwind week of legal manoeuvrs.

Attorney General Alan Wilson had asked the justices to block the issuance of any licenses.

Meanwhile, a case from a couple married in Washington and want to be recognized in South Carolina and overturn the ban is before a federal judge.