Following an order clarification by U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle, Hernando Clerk Don Barbee personally officiated three same sex marriage ceremonies on January 8 2015. In his order clarification, Judge Hinkle stated that it would be unconstitutional for clerks to follow Florida’s Constitutional Amendment banning same sex marriages.
Before Judge Hinkle’s clarification, Barbee explained that it would be unlikely his previous boss, State Attorney Brad King, would prosecute him for issuing licenses. “But as long as that law exists, I don’t feel comfortable” he added.
County Clerks were stuck between a rock and a hard place since Hinkle’s original decision in August. A memo from the Clerks’ advisory law firm Greenberg Traurig warned all Clerks in Florida that the decision was specific only to the Clerk of Court in Washington County FL, where one of the same sex couples challenging the ban lives. This further intensified the pressure they felt from groups like Equality Florida. In a press release they stated that clerks are obligated to grant same sex marriage licenses or “risk expensive litigation, including liability for damages and attorney fees.”
Pasco County Clerk Paula O’Neil is also now issuing marriage licenses to same sex couples but unlike Hernando Clerk Don Barbee, no longer performs marriage ceremonies for either same sex or traditional couples.