Gay marriage is Alabama judge’s latest battle

Moore was once best known for having a monument to the Ten Commandments built at a public Alabama judicial building. Federal courts ordered him to take it down in 2003. He refused. And eventually, Moore was booted from the bench.

Since then, Moore’s mounted two unsuccessful gubernatorial bids. But in 2012, he won a statewide election to reclaim his seat as the chief justice of the state’s Supreme Court.

READ: Same-sex couples wed in Alabama despite efforts to block them

Still, Moore’s instructions conflict with those of the federal court — particularly after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to stay the lower court’s ruling ahead of what’s widely expected to be a federal ruling on the legality of same-sex marriage in June.

Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley, a Republican, said he understood the position that the contrasting instructions put probate judges in, and he wouldn’t take action against any of them.

“This issue has created confusion with conflicting direction for probate judges in Alabama,” he said in a statement issued on Monday. “Probate judges have a unique responsibility in our state, and I support them. I will not take any action against probate judges, which would only serve to further complicate this issue.”

CNN