A federal judge has ruled that all counties in Florida must issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples starting on Jan. 6

U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle issued an emergency order on Thursday stating that court clerks must issue marriage licenses to gay couples once a stay expires on an earlier ruling that overturned the state's ban on same-sex marriage. According to the judge, his Aug. 21 ruling applied to all counties in Florida, not just Washington County, where two men were named as plaintiffs in the case.

Although the U.S. Supreme Court legalized gay marriage in Florida when it declined to extend a stay on Hinkle's decision, legal counsel to the clerks were unsure if the high court's order applied only to Washington County. As a result, they filed an emergency motion asking Hinkle to clarify whether or not they were required to wed all same-sex couples, or just the two men named in the lawsuit.

In the four-page order, Judge Hinkle explained that clerks have a "legal duty" to issue the licenses, although he did not order them to do it.

"The preliminary injunction now in effect thus does not require the clerk to issue licenses to other applicants," Hinkle wrote, according to Reuters. "But as set out in the order that announced issuance of the preliminary injunction, the Constitution requires the clerk to issue such licenses."

Hinkle also pointedly noted that "history records no shortage of instances when state officials defied federal court orders." He gave counties that did not oblige a stern warning that they would be suspectible to court costs and attorney fees for victorious plaintiffs.

"History records no shortage of instances when state officials defied federal court orders on issues of federal constitutional law. Happily, there are many more instances when responsible officials followed the law, like it or not. Reasonable people can debate whether the ruling in this case was correct and who it binds," Judge Hinkle said this in his ruling, according to My News 13.

"There should be no debate, however, on the question whether a clerk of court may follow the ruling, even for marriage-license applicants who are not parties to this case. And a clerk who chooses not to follow the ruling should take note: the governing statutes and rules of procedure allow individuals to intervene as plaintiffs in pending actions, allow certification of plaintiff and defendant classes, allow issuance of successive preliminary injunctions, and allow successful plaintiffs to recover costs and attorney's fees," he added.

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