"I ask you to continue to uphold and support the Alabama Constitution with respect to marriage, both for the welfare of this state and for our posterity," "Be advised that I stand with you to stop judicial tyranny and any unlawful opinions issued without constitutional authority."
"As you know, nothing in the United States Constitution grants the federal government the authority to redefine the institution of marriage."
uphold and Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice
Roy Moore Ignores Unlawful
Federal Judge Ruling On "Gay Marrriage"
Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, and research purposes:
Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore has released a letter to Gov. Robert Bentley saying that he intends to continue to recognize the state’s constitutional ban on same-sex marriage and urging the governor to do so.
Moore’s office released the three-page letter
(SEE: http://documents.buzzfeed.com/012715-Moore.pdf)
that was delivered to the governor this morning in response to a federal judge’s ruling Friday striking down the ban.
(SEE: http://documents.buzzfeed.com/012715-Moore.pdf)
that was delivered to the governor this morning in response to a federal judge’s ruling Friday striking down the ban.
“As Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, I will continue to recognize the Alabama Constitution and the will of the people overwhelmingly expressed in the Sanctity of Marriage Amendment,” Moore wrote.
“I ask you to continue to uphold and support the Alabama Constitution with respect to marriage, both for the welfare of this state and for our posterity,” Moore continued at the end of the letter. “Be advised that I stand with you to stop judicial tyranny and any unlawful opinions issued without constitutional authority.”
Bentley issued a statement today after Moore’s letter was released.
“The people of Alabama elected me to uphold our state Constitution, and when I took the oath of office last week, that is what I promised to do,” the governor said.
“The people of Alabama voted in a constitutional amendment to define marriage as being between man and woman. As governor, I must uphold the Constitution. I am disappointed in Friday’s ruling, and I will continue to oppose this ruling. The Federal government must not infringe on the rights of states.”
Moore said the ruling by U.S. District Judge Callie V.S. “Ginny” Granade “raised serious, legitimate concerns about the propriety of federal court jurisdiction” over the Alabama amendment.
“As you know, nothing in the United States Constitution grants the federal government the authority to redefine the institution of marriage,” Moore wrote.
David Kennedy, an attorney for Cari Searcy and Kim McKeand, the couple who successfully challenged the same-sex ban, said he strongly disagreed with what Moore wrote.
“We also know there is no legal support for the position he’s taken,” Kennedy said.
Kennedy said the Supremacy Clause in the U.S. Constitution provides that when a federal court with the proper jurisdiction rules that a state law is unconstitutional that state officials are bound to abide by the ruling.
Kennedy mentioned the fact that in 2003, the Alabama Court of the Judiciary removed Moore from the state Supreme Court after he refused to obey a federal judge’s order to remove a Ten Commandments monument that he had placed in the state judicial building.
“I’m disappointed he is again encouraging state officials to be defiant of a lawful federal order,” Kennedy said.
Moore was elected chief justice again in 2012.
State voters approved the Sanctity of Marriage Amendment in 2006, with 81 percent voting in favor of it. The amendment defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman and prohibits the state from recognizing same-sex marriages performed in other states.
Granade ruled that the Sanctity of Marriage Amendment and a separate state law banning same-sex marriage violated the Equal Protection Clause and the Due Process Clause in the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Granade issued a 14-day stay in her ruling, as well as on a second ruling Monday in favor of another same-sex couple. The stay expires Feb. 9.
Moore included a biblical passage in his letter, Mark 10:6-9, which describes God’s directive about marriage.
He wrote that he was encouraged that the Alabama Probate Judges Association encouraged its members not to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. The association’s position was that Friday’s ruling applied only to the couple that filed the lawsuit.
That couple’s lawyers disagreed and compared the association’s position to Gov. George Wallace’s stand in the schoolhouse door to prevent integration at the University of Alabama.
Probate judges in some counties disagreed with the association’s position and indicated they planned to issue licenses. The stay prevented that from happening.
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Alabama Chief Justice Urges Defiance
of Federal Tyranny
SEE:
EXCERPTS:
"Moore’s letter is packed with support for his position. In addition to the state Constitution, the U.S. Constitution, and previous Alabama Supreme Court rulings protecting the institution of marriage, the chief justice also cited a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court. “Even the United States Supreme Court has repeatedly recognized that the basic foundation of marriage and family upon which our Country rests is ‘the union for life of one man and one woman in the holy estate of matrimony; the sure foundation of all that is stable and noble in our civilization; the best guaranty of that reverent morality which is the source of all beneficent progress in social and political improvement,’” Moore explained, quoting the U.S. high court’s decision in Murphy v. Ramsey."
"As the federal government becomes increasingly extreme in usurping power — more than two thirds of Americans in surveys say the feds are “out of control” and a threat to liberty — state-level efforts to stop it all are growing stronger. From nullification of unconstitutional federal statutes by liberal and conservative states, to efforts such as Moore’s to protect state constitutions from radical federal judges, the trend is expected to accelerate. The federal ruling purporting to redefine marriage has been put on hold until at least next month. However, with the Supreme Court expected to rule on the issue, and two justices with blatant and unlawful conflicts of interest so far resisting demands for recusal, legal experts say the high court may well seek to impose its new definition of marriage on all 50 states later this year. Pastors, judges, lawmakers, and more areincreasingly urging states to interpose and protect citizens from the escalating federal abuse. Whether or not they do may define America for generations to come."
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Southern Baptist Leader Russell Moore: Alabama Judges Must Uphold ‘Gay Marriage’ Ruling or Resign
SEE: http://christiannews.net/2015/02/15/southern-baptist-leader-russell-moore-alabama-judges-must-uphold-gay-marriage-ruling-or-resign/; February 15, 2015 by Heather Clark;
EXCERPTS:
A prominent Southern Baptist leader who raised concerns last year after he advised that Christians should support the rights of other religions and also traveled to the Vatican for an interfaith conference on marriage is now stating that probate judges in Alabama should either follow the recent federal ruling in favor of “gay marriage” or resign.
“Given the high bar required for civil disobedience, the way to address same-sex marriage in this circumstance is not by defying the rule of law, but by making our case before the legitimate authorities,” Moore stated. “If we lose, our responsibility is to advocate as citizens for our views, even if that project is (as in the case of the pro-life movement) a long-term project, while we work for our constitutional guarantees of freedom of conscience and religious liberty.”
