Pennsylvania County Issues Same-Sex Marriage Licenses Despite State Law Ban

AP reports that in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania (suburban Philadelphia), the county's Register of Wills, D. Bruce Hanes, has begun to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, despite the legal ban on such marriages in the state.  Hanes says he wants to come down "on the right side of history and the law." At least 5 same-sex couples were issued marriage license yesterday.  The county's district attorney says that the marriage licenses are not legal, but that the remedy for issuing an invalid does not include intervention by the district attorney. The state's attorney general has previously said that she will not defend the state's same-sex marriage ban, leaving enforcement to the governor's office.