DC clerk stalls marriage over 'foreign' New Mexico driver's license

[left-of-center2012]

A District of Columbia clerk and a supervisor refused to accept a New Mexico man’s state driver’s license as he sought a marriage license because she and her supervisor believed New Mexico was a foreign country.

Gavin Clarkson (said) it happened Nov. 20 at the District of Columbia Courts Marriage Bureau as he tried to apply for a marriage license. After approaching the clerk for a license and showing his New Mexico ID, Clarkson said the clerk told him he needed an 'international passport' to get the marriage license.

Clarkson said he protested to a supervisor, who also told him that he needed a 'foreign passport'. The clerk finally concluded New Mexico was a state after Clarkson objected three times. The clerk granted the license to Clarkson and his fiancée. “She thought New Mexico was a foreign country,” Clarkson said of the clerk. “All the couples behind us waiting in line were laughing.”

In a statement, the D.C. courts system acknowledged the staff error to the Sun-News.
“We understand that a clerk in our Marriage Bureau made a mistake regarding New Mexico’s 106-year history as a state,” Leah H. Gurowitz, spokeswoman for D.C. Courts, said in an email. “We very much regret the error and the slight delay it caused a New Mexico resident in applying for a D.C. marriage license.”

New Mexico became a U.S. state in 1912.

https://www.apnews.com/f184144884774bec849d44ac5046e58a

[Sherman A1]

1. Someone was asleep in class that day?

Really need to add a map at the DC Marriage Bureau.

[Eugene]

2. This happened in the District of COLUMBIA?

[Denzil_DC]

12. Which is wedged between Panama, Ecuador, Peru, Venuezela and Brazil.

Study it out.

[Glimmer of Hope]

3. The local DC Courts are notorious for not having

The greatest staff. Blame the schools.

[icymist]

4. More proof of the Dumbing down of America!

Clarkson's wife, Marina, immigrated from Argentina in the 1990s, becoming a legal permanent resident and then a naturalized U.S. citizen. She speaks English fluently, though she has a slight accent. But the clerk complimented Clarkson, not Marina, on how well he spoke the language. He said his wife was in disbelief, wondering: "Why are you complimenting him on his English?"

https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/nation-world/couple-forced-to-prove-new-mexico-is-a-state-while-applying-for-marriage-license/618925034?fbclid=IwAR1ouPmYUgH4wKhYYJKhS5Rq8C-ZeR0B-IwpMf9B2jkodpQMQNjzWw6fQEM

The stupid hurts.

[RockRaven]

5. When I was a kid I thought memorizing all the state capitals and such were lame assignments

But maybe it wasn't such a waste of time after all. At least I know all of the states.

[GulfCoast66]

15. We had to memorize all the nations of Europe and their Capitals as well

In Public school in Arkansas!

But I have always loved geography so it was no problem.

My dad and I used to play a game when I was in elementary school.

I got a globe for my 8th birthday. He would name a Nation and we would time how long it took me to find it. After a month or so the game ended. I knew them all.

I had a great father. Died when I was 23. 30 years ago.

Sorry. Off topic. But could not help it.

[rockfordfile]

6. They should be fired

[LiberalFighter]

7. If they don't know the states they should not have a job there.

[Deb]

8. OMG! A marriage caravan?

[smirkymonkey]

9. How do people like this have jobs?

Someone in this kind of position needs to know these things.

[klook]

10. Cute story from a Republican and former Trump administration official appointed by Ryan Zinke,

who resigned his post at the Bureau of Indian Affairs last year under an ethical cloud because of his role in a tribal loan to buy a Wall Street brokerage that later went belly up -- a gambit for which Clarkson and his consulting firm collected a $327,500 paycheck.

Note: This is a copy of my post in the earlier thread on this story. I'm sure Clarkson would like it if this feel-good story appeared higher in search engine results than the ones about his questionable role in the failed tribal loan.

More on Gavin Clarkson:

Secret and Unaccountable: The Tribal Council at Lower Brule and its Impact on Human Rights

Trump appointee to Bureau of Indian Affairs resigns after Interior’s IG slams the loan program he oversaw

ProPublica: Your $20 million loan went bust? The Trump team will hire you

Report cites 'disturbing' conduct of former Bureau of Indian Affairs official

Q&A: Secretary of State candidate Gavin Clarkson

Q: Do you believe New Mexico’s campaign finance reporting system should be improved? If so, what changes would you propose?

Gavin Clarkson: Albuquerque’s mayoral race is a perfect example of the failure of our campaign finance system. A publicly funded candidate should not be allowed to leverage private donations. “Dark Money” from George Soros has reportedly flowed to my opponent repeatedly, yet the existing system doesn’t force those funds to be reported.

[mainer]

11. My nephew from Hawaii ran into the same problem at a bank

They wouldn't let him open an account in Boston because he needed to show a passport, since Hawaii is a foreign country.

[keithbvadu2]

13. On the way to Hawaii, our office put up a sign... Hawaiian money exchanged here.

I was on an aircraft carrier in the Pacific.

On the way to Hawaii, our office put up a sign... Hawaiian money exchanged here.

A few people actually showed up.

[Iggo]

14. Hmm.

You don't look New Mexican.

[Takket]

16. next in line was someone from the country of Georgia... who had no trouble