Roy Moore’s back: Ignore the SCOTUS, Our Same Sex Marriage Ban is somehow still legal
Chief Justice Roy Moore issued an order today saying that a ruling issued last March by the Alabama Supreme Court remains in effect and that probate judges “have a ministerial duty not to issue any marriage license contrary” to Alabama’s law and constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.
His argument? Well, it SOUNDS reasonable at first glance:
Moore wrote that since the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that many Alabama probate judges are issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, while others are issuing licenses only to opposite-sex couples or not issuing licenses at all.
“This disparity affects the administration of justice in this state,” he wrote.
Except this has already been resolved. Twice:
U.S. District Judge Ginny Granade of Mobile ruled last January that Alabama’s ban on same-sex marriage violated the U.S. Constitution.
That touched off a wave of confusion and conflicting legal orders, as some Alabama probate judges began issuing same-sex marriage licenses, while others did not.
The Alabama Supreme Court issued its order in March in response to a request from two conservative groups, the Alabama Citizens Action Program and the Alabama Policy Institute, as well as Elmore County Probate Judge John Enslen.
The order enjoined probate judges from issuing licenses contrary to Alabama law.
Moore was not listed as participating in that order. Seven of the eight other justices concurred in the result.
About four months later, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its long-anticipated order, striking down state bans on same-sex marriage.
So. The law was specifically shot down as unconstitutional. Then the judges in Alabama stepped up and said “Nya nya, it’s banned anyway.” Then the SCOTUS shot it down country-wide.
And now Moore is claiming “Nya nya, they’re not the boss of ME!”
Moore, in his order today, says the Alabama Supreme Court continues to deliberate on how the U.S. Supreme Court ruling affects the state court’s orders.
In Moore’s order today, he said rulings by federal courts since the U.S. Supreme Court ruling could affect the issue in Alabama.
Moore said the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that the U.S. Supreme Court case invalidated only the same-sex marriage bans in Michigan, Kentucky, Ohio and Tennessee.
And he said the U.S. District Court in Kansas found that the U.S. Supreme Court ruling “is clearly controlling Supreme Court precedent, it did not directly strike down the provisions of the Kansas Constitution and statutes that bar the issuance of same-sex marriage licenses.”
For those who vaugely remember the name, Roy More is the faux Christian Conservative who forced his state to put an idol dedicated to a fable in his favorite iron age storybook in his courtroom at taxpayer expense, then fought it’s removal again at taxpayer expense. He also helped found a sect of his cult dedicated to subverting and overriding American law in an attempt to infuse his particular sect’s beliefs in the American legal system against the foundations of our country.
To that end, it’s going to go away, very quickly, but it’s nice to see Roy Moore is at least consistent in his hatred.
