Federal Judge Orders Alabama Justices To Grant Same-Sex Marriages; Chief Justice Roy Moore Continues To Resist
The same federal judge who initially overturned the same-sex marriage ban in Alabama is now ordering Alabama justices to begin performing same-sex marriages, despite contrary orders from Chief Justice Roy Moore. Moore has battled against marriage equality in his state, maintaining that the federal judge’s ruling did not apply to justices in the state, and issuing a memo to justices warning that to comply with the ruling would be to break the law. Now, an order has been directed to justices in one county, and a warning to those in other counties.
On Thursday, according to the Associated Press, U.S. District Judge Callie Granade ruled in a case in Mobile County. Mobile was among the approximately two-thirds of counties in Alabama where justices elected to listen to Chief Justice Roy Moore and ignore the federal ruling, and continued to uphold the state’s marriage ban. Judge Granade ordered justices to begin issuing marriage licenses, and said there was no excuse for refusing to do so after her ruling.
Roy Moore, or rather, his social media team, didn’t seem any more swayed by this new order than by the previous ruling, however. His Facebook page on Thursday evening continued to be flooded with links and testimonials from those who support him in denying marriage equality. These included several Christian news sites, evangelist Franklin Graham, and Moore’s wife. Some previous posts, showing support from the AFA (defined by the SPLC as a hate group) and other anti-gay groups, have been deleted.
Notably, one group whose support has been given, but is not being touted on Moore’s social media, is the Mississippi KKK.
President Obama, too, has spoken out against Roy Moore’s violation of the federal ruling, and suggested that the federal courts may have some redress for Moore’s behavior, according to the Advocate.
Notably, it’s not Moore’s first time being in trouble for defying a federal order — the same occurred when Moore was in a battle to keep a Ten Commandments monument at a courthouse after being told that it violated constitutional separation of church and state laws. At that time, Moore was removed from his position as Chief Justice, but was voted back in 2012.
The ACLU has filed civil rights complaints against Chief Justice Roy Moore for his actions in delaying civil rights to Alabama’s LGBTQ citizens, and a justice panel will determine whether he will face charges for ordering Alabama justices to defy a federal ruling.
[Photo by Erik S. Lesser/Getty Images]
