AP reports today that in at least 9 of Alabama's 67 counties judges have completely stopped issuing marriage licences now that the U.S. Supreme Court has legalized same-sex marriages. The judges are relying on a 1961 change in Alabama's law that made it optional rather than mandatory for probate courts to issue marriage licences. This has created a region in southwest Alabama with a population of 78,000 in which residents will have to travel to other counties to obtain a license.