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Judge: Mississippi Clerks' Religious Beliefs Don't Matter When Issuing Gay Marriage Licenses

A federal judge on Monday ruled that clerks in Mississippi may not recuse themselves from issuing marriage licenses to gay couples based on religious beliefs, despite a bill passed by the state legislature intended to carve out that exception for them.

A federal judge on Monday ruled that clerks in Mississippi may not recuse themselves from issuing marriage licenses to gay couples based on religious beliefs, despite a bill passed by the state legislature intended to carve out that exception for them.

 

U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves said that the recusals on religious grounds granted by the state's so-called "Protecting Freedom of Conscience from Government Discrimination Act", or House Bill 1523, violated the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark 2015 ruling legalizing gay marriage.

 

The Supreme Court's decision is commonly referred to as the "Obergefell" case after lead plaintiff James Obergefell.

 

"Mississippi's elected officials may disagree with Obergefell, of course, and may express that disagreement as they see fit - by advocating for a constitutional amendment to overturn the decision, for example," Reeves wrote in his 16-page ruling, which came in response to a lawsuit filed by the Campaign for Southern Equality.

Caroline Cournoyer is GOVERNING's senior web editor.
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