Judge tells Alabama officials: No, you can’t just ignore the Supreme Court ruling
A federal judge has smacked down officials in Alabama who are flouting a Supreme Court ruling by refusing to marry same-sex couples.
The highest court in the US ruled last week that same-sex marriage is a constitutional right, finding by 5-4 in favour of equality in all 50 states.
However, in some states the ruling is still contentious – with Alabama’s Chief Justice Roy Moore declaring the ruling ‘doesn’t apply’ in his state and instructing officials to ignore it. He has no defensible legal basis for his claim, but his cause has been taken up by anti-gay marriage activists.
Ignoring the law doesn’t end well, however – leading to a scathing smack down from a federal judge.
Judge Callie Granade today issued an order, reminding state officials that “the language set forth in the order… [is] binding on all members of the Defendant Class”.
If officials in the state continue to refuse to comply, they could be found to be violating the Constitution.
Moore has become a hero of opponents of same-sex marriage despite his often-ridiculed claims about homosexuals
He claimed previously: “They’re toying with something that’s like dynamite, that will destroy our country. I think eventually, over a period of time, it will.”
He recently bizarrely suggested that if two bisexuals or trans people wanted a marriage, it would have to involve four people.
He said: “You’re taking any definition of a family away.
“When two bisexuals or two transgendered marry, how large is that family?
“Can they marry two persons, one of the same sex and one of the opposite sex? Then, you’ve got a family of four or how many?”
