Will Duval County bring back courthouse weddings now?

Updated 2:10 p.m. with comment from Lenny Curry team:

On Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court made gay marriage legal nationwide.

Of course, it’s been legal in Florida for the last six months. In response to it being made legal, Duval County Clerk of Courts Ronnie Fussell made the decision to stop courthouse weddings.

The decision, we are assured, was Bible-based. It was intended to shield courthouse employees from the indignity of fulfilling a historic function of the courthouse, because it would have conflicted with their personal beliefs.

Well, the controversy over courthouse weddings came and went. Aided and abetted by Mayor Alvin Brown taking an incoherent and inchoate position on the subject, Fussell felt unfettered to take a position that was every bit as out of step with society’s current mores as taking a position against interracial marriages was half a century ago.

Now? We have clarity from the Federal level. Gay marriage is protected under the U.S. Constitution.

The city of Jacksonville is leaving $59,000 a year on the table because it will not provide the service of courthouse weddings.

Is that good business? Ronnie Fussell told Sam Mousa, the new chief administrative officer for Lenny Curry, that fees are down $150,000 and that the Clerk of Courts office is running at a $600,000 loss.

You want a new revenue stream, Ronnie? Why not re-institute a service that your court used to render. That would be $59,000 and then some.

I reached out to Curry and Fussell both for comment.

Update: “Under the previous administration, there was a review initiated in the General Counsel’s office looking at all applicable laws, ordnances and city regulations dealing with discrimination. Today’s ruling will become a part of that review and it will undoubtedly inform future debate. Mayor-elect Curry will always follow the law of the land, and on any issue that relates to Jacksonville’s future, he will lead the discussion among all stakeholders as we chart a path forward,” said Bill Spann, spokesman for Mayor-elect Lenny Curry, on Friday.