Another Update on The Gay in Alabama: State Supreme Court “Overrules” Federal District Court

Sigh. To me, this is neither a conservative, nor a liberal issue at this point. (Though maybe it is? State supremacy = conservative cause?) Here’s the latest from Alabama, just in Sunday night (so less than 12 hrs old): “Alabama Judges Ordered to Halt ‘Halt’ Weddings.” It’s by Cheryl Chumley, who I haven’t seen before on WND.

And let’s be very clear: It’s not the weddings at issue, it’s the issuance of marriage licenses.

Anyway, the decision was 7 to 1 with Roy Moore recusing himself (probably the only thing he’s done right in this, in my opinion). The dissenting judge effectively told his co-justicies: “WTF, are you high?” He actually that he didn’t think the case was properly filed, the court had any jurisdiction, and that public interest groups could sue in Alabama’s name, since it was outside groups and not the Governor, Legislature, nor Attorney General who sued.

The issue for me is that second one: Jurisdiction. Article 6, Clause 2 of the United States Constitution clearly says:

This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof; and all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land; and the judges in every state shall be bound thereby, anything in the constitution or laws of any state to the contrary notwithstanding.

Most people I know interpret this to mean that federal laws and courts have supremacy over state. In other words, the Federal District Court Judge’s ruling has supremacy over a state Supreme Court.

This is besides the fact that I think this is a ruling meant to uphold a hugely discriminatory law. Or, as God put it today:

God Tweets on Alabama Supreme Court

Roy Moore, the Judge Who Does Illegal Stuff, Thinks Gays Are Icky

I had fun with that title. Or, I’m sleep-deprived. Today’s edition of Homo Hate™® comes from WND’s HomoHater Bob Unruh: “Ten Commandments Judge: ‘Gay Weddings A ‘Travesty.’”

I haven’t talked about Roy Moore before, so if you don’t know who he is, I recommend perusing his Wikipedia page. The reason he’s called the “Ten Commandments Judge” is that he was the Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, he had a multi-ton granite copy of the Ten Commandments placed in the Alabama Judicial Building, he was court-ordered to remove it by a federal judge, and on November 13, 2003, the “Alabama Court of the Judiciary unanimously removed Moore from his post as Chief Justice.” After a failed political career for the next 10 years, he was re-voted in as Alabama Chief Justice. I weep for Alabama.

So, you can imagine that he has a small group of very VERY vocal supporters who eat up every word he spews out of his various orifices. The latest is that he’s on a personal crusade to outlaw same-sex marriage, writing to every state Governor (damn well better not be on official Alabama stationary) to get together and have the states amend the Constitution to illegalize it … ’cause, you know, Jesus, and gays are icky:

Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore, who was returned to the top judicial post in the state after he fought with bureaucrats over the message of the Ten Commandments, is now adding his voice to a campaign for an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would define marriage.

“It’s a travesty,” Judge Roy Moore told WND on Monday about the move toward judiciary-imposed same-sex “marriages.” “The courts are exercising wrongful authority over this country.”

… The campaign is alive online under the “I Stand With Judge Moore” headline and proposes the Constitution be amended to state: “Nothing in this Constitution or in the constitution or laws of any state shall define or shall be construed to define marriage except as the union of one man and one woman, and no other union shall be recognized with the legal incidents thereof within the United States or any place subject to their jurisdiction.”

In addition to the online presence, the campaign mailed letters to governors of all 50 states urging them to get their legislatures to call for a convention to add that amendment to the Constitution.

Many commenters weighed in on the issue, echoing Moore’s learned, measured, and polite thoughts, with their own. 135 comments to-date, most of them supporting Moore, several of them quoting the Bible, some of them supporting what’s going on in Russia with the “don’t say gay” law there.

Oh, and of course, “Black Racism” had the nuanced insight, “No one is preventing gay men from marrying lesbian women.” He got 16 up-votes and 1 down-vote.