Mike Huckabee brands SCOTUS marriage ruling ‘tyranny’
Governor Mike Huckabee didn’t waste any time in attempting to put a downer on the Supreme Court’s decision to legalise same-sex marriage across the US, branding it “tyranny”.
The Republican Presidential hopeful released a statement just minutes after the ruling, saying the opinion, which declared that marriage is a constitutional right for all Americans including same-sex couples, was “unconstitutional”.
He wrote: “The Supreme Court has spoken with a very divided voice on something only the Supreme Being can do-redefine marriage. I will not acquiesce to an imperial court any more than our Founders acquiesced to an imperial British monarch. We must resist and reject judicial tyranny, not retreat.
“This ruling is not about marriage equality, it’s about marriage redefinition. This irrational, unconstitutional rejection of the expressed will of the people in over 30 states will prove to be one of the court’s most disastrous decisions, and they have had many. The only outcome worse than this flawed, failed decision would be for the President and Congress, two co-equal branches of government, to surrender in the face of this out-of-control act of unconstitutional, judicial tyranny.”
He continued: “The Supreme Court can no more repeal the laws of nature and nature’s God on marriage than it can the law of gravity. Under our Constitution, the court cannot write a law, even though some cowardly politicians will wave the white flag and accept it without realizing that they are failing their sworn duty to reject abuses from the court. If accepted by Congress and this President, this decision will be a serious blow to religious liberty, which is the heart of the First Amendment.”
Huckabee also announced a ‘Religious Liberty Townhall Tour’ in Iowa from Tuesday to Thursday next week.
The highest court in the US made a surprise early decision today on same-sex marriage, after hearing ‘mega-case’ Obergefell v. Hodges.
A ruling had not been expected until Monday from the nine Supreme Court justices, who are attempting to resolve a ‘split’ in lower courts on the issue – and as such could decide on the issue once and for all for the entire country.
The victory of equality came by a vote of 5-4, as the justices ruled both that same-sex marriage is a constitutional right, and that states are required to recognise marriages from elsewhere.
Justice Anthony Kennedy authored the majority opinion, and was joined by Justices Ginsburg, Breyer, Sotomayor, and Kagan in finding in favour of equality – while the court’s Chief Justice John Roberts, Justices Scalia, Alito and Thomas authoring a dissenting ruling.
