Federal judge closes books on Florida gay marriage ban

More than a year after same-sex marriages began in Florida, a federal judge on Thursday issued a final judgment declaring that Florida's voter-approved prohibition against gay marriage is unconstitutional.

In a harshly worded ruling, U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle rejected state officials' arguments that a final order in the Florida case was unnecessary due to a seminal U.S. Supreme Court decision last year that struck down state bans on same-sex marriages nationwide.

Hinkle chastised state…