Some state leaders say they plan to not comply with the Supreme Court’s same-sex marriage ruling, at least not immediately.
In Louisiana, attorney general Buddy Caldwell said Friday the Court’s ruling “overturns the will of the people of Louisiana, and it takes away a right that should have been left to the states.”
“Louisiana voters decided overwhelmingly to place in our constitution an amendment that defines marriage as between one man and one woman,” he added. “I fought to uphold Louisiana’s definition of traditional marriage, and I was the first attorney general in the nation to be successful at the federal court level.”
Caldwell said he finds nothing in the Court’s decision that makes its order effective immediately.
“Therefore, there is not yet a legal requirement for officials to issue marriage licenses or perform marriages for same-sex couples in Louisiana,” his office stated. “The Attorney General’s Office will be watching for the Court to issue a mandate or order making today’s decision final and effective and will issue a statement when that occurs.”
“I am extremely disappointed by this decision,” Caldwell added. “It fails to respect traditional marriage as defined by Louisiana voters, and is yet another example of the federal government intrusion into what should be a state issue.”
According to a report at Reuters, the Louisiana Clerks of Court Association advised clerks not to issue licenses for 25 days, during which time the Supreme Court could be petitioned for a rehearing.
Same-sex marriages are also on hold in the state of Mississippi, where Democrat attorney general Jim Hood said the Supreme Court’s decision would not go into effect in his state until the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals lifts a stay on its ruling from last year in which it struck down the state’s same-sex marriage ban.
Hood posted the following statement on his Twitter account:
The Supreme Court’s decision is not immediately effective in Mississippi. It will become effective in Mississippi, and circuit clerks will be required to issue same-sex marriage licenses, when the 5th Circuit lifts the stay of Judge Reeves’ order. This could come quickly or may take several days. The 5th Circuit might also choose not to lift the stay and instead issue an order, which could take considerably longer before it becomes effective.
Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant (R) said the Court’s ruling on same-sex marriage “has usurped that right to self-governance and has mandated that states must comply with federal marriage standards—standards that are out of step with the wishes of many in the United States and that are certainly out of step with the majority of Mississippians.”
According to the Picayune Item, Republican Mississippi state Sen. Angela Hill said she was not surprised by the Court’s ruling, given “the historic, judicial tyranny of courts legislating from the bench.”
“Nine unelected judges do not have the moral authority to alter the meaning of the Biblical marriage covenant only between a man and a woman,” Hill said. “Religious freedom is eroding at the hand of rogue judges, and this freedom will be greatly tested in the future.”
“I fear that churches and pastors refusing to perform same sex marriages may be penalized under government rule,” she added. “Civil partnerships could have been legally recognized without the high court reinventing an institution that’s been ordained and recognized for thousands of years as between a man and a woman. The judges instead decided to act omnipotently.”
In Texas, attorney general Ken Paxton referred to the Court’s ruling Sunday as an act of “lawlessness,” one that “ignored the text and spirit of the Constitution to manufacture a right that simply does not exist.”
Paxton issued guidance that “county clerks and their employees retain religious freedoms that may allow accommodation of their religious objections to issuing same-sex ‘marriage’ licenses,” and said “the strength of any such claim depends on the particular facts of each case.”
Though Alabama Republican Gov. Robert Bentley said he will comply with the Supreme Court’s ruling on same-sex marriage, the decision does not alter his conviction that marriage is “between one man and one woman.”
According to FoxCT.com, Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore said the Court’s same-sex marriage ruling Friday was “even worse” than its 19th century decision to uphold racial segregation.
“I believe it’s worse because it affects our entire system of morality and family values,” Moore said.
“There is no such thing as same-sex marriage in the constitution. The words are not there, we’ve never had it in our history,” the chief justice continued. “Five judges on the Supreme Court, or justices, have presumed to find a fundamental right which has no basis in the history or logic or tradition of our country.”
“I think the law of the land is plain,” he added. “It’s the United States Constitution. Not an opinion of the Supreme Court which contradicts that law.”