DC clerk stalls marriage over 'foreign' New Mexico ID card

LAS CRUCES, N.M. � 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 told the Las Cruces Sun-News 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 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 fiancee.

�She thought New Mexico was a foreign country,� Clarkson said of the clerk. �All the couples behind us waiting in line were laughing.�

Clarkson, who is an enrolled member of the Choctaw Nation, said if he�d had his tribal identification card he might have had an easier time than showing his New Mexico driver�s license.

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.