MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) – Federal prosecutors in Alabama say the state’s probate judges must obey the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision on gay marriage regardless of an administrative order issued by Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore.
Moore said Wednesday that the Alabama Supreme Court never lifted a March directive to probate judges to refuse licenses to gay couples. He said the order to refuse the licenses remains in “full force.”

U.S. Attorneys Joyce White Vance of the Northern District of Alabama and Kenyen Brown of the Southern District of Alabama issued a statement saying they had “grave concerns” about Moore’s administrative order.

Vance and Brown say the issue was decided by the U.S. Supreme Court last year and while government officials are free to disagree with the law, they can’t disobey it.