Cal. Clerk: Weddings a financial loser
The Bakersfield Californian reports:
County Clerk Ann Barnett released figures Friday showing her office lost $18,000 in the past year performing civil marriage ceremonies . . .
“The bottom line is that (Barnett) has the discretion not to perform wedding ceremonies under the law … she doesn’t need to justify her decision,” Alliance Defense Fund attorney Brian Raum said. “We’ve advised her that she has the right under the law to make the decision she’s made.”
The organization also notified the county’s top attorney, County Counsel Bernard Barmann, Friday that it would represent Barnett in all matters related to marriage license and ceremonies.
It’s doing so, Raum said, because Barmann violated attorney-client privilege by releasing to The Californian e-mails showing Barnett’s office asked Alliance Defense Fund for legal representation if she ended civil marriages.