[JURIST] A federal judge issued a court order [order, PDF] on Thursday that all Louisiana officials must grant marriage licenses to same-sex couples [JURIST news archive]. The order, issued by Judge Martin Feldman [official profile] of the US District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana [official website], specifically requires the state to both issue the licenses and also begin recognizing marriage rights of same-sex couples married in other states. The law officially overturns state laws that restricted marriage licenses and rights to only heterosexual couples. The night before the order, Governor Bobby Jindal announced [NOLA report] that the state would still have to adhere to its laws restricting marriage rights in light of the US Supreme Court’s ruling last week [JURIST report] which legalized same-sex marriage nationwide. Jindal said that the state had to wait until a lower federal court affirmed the Supreme Court’s decision, which is what happened today.

Introductions of religious exemption bills and refusals to issue licenses have been occurring around the country. Yesterday a judge for the US District Court for the Southern District of Alabama issued an order [JURIST report] that all Alabama counties must abide by the Supreme Court ruling allowing same-sex marriage. In June the North Carolina House of Representatives passed a law [JURIST report] that would allow some court officials to refuse to perform same-sex marriages based on their religious beliefs, overriding a veto [JURIST report] by Governor Pat McCroy. In May Louisiana legislatures rejected a religious objections bill [JURIST report] that was pushed by Governor Bobby Jindal. A House legal committee voted 10-2 [AP report] to kill the bill, ending weeks of serious debate. However, in an effort to solicit Christian conservatives for his likely presidential bid in 2016, Jindal immediately responded by issuing an executive order aimed at doing essentially the same thing as the bill, just on a smaller scale.