On Friday and Monday a federal judge struck down Alabama’s ban on same-sex marriage in two separate cases, prompting state Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore to issue a three-page declaration promising he will not observe the rulings…. “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. “If we are to preserve that ‘reverent morality which is our source of all beneficent progress in social and political improvement,’ then we must act to oppose such tyranny!” he added. In his letter, addressed to Alabama Republican Governor Robert Bentley, Moore warned “the destruction of that institution is upon us by federal courts using specious pretexts based on the Equal Protection, Due Process and Full Faith and Credit Clauses of the United States Constitution.”…. “I would advise,” Moore added, that any marriage licenses issued to same-sex couples “would be in defiance of the laws and Constitution of Alabama,” and claimed that the State of Alabama is not bound by decisions of federal district or appellate courts.
There’s a temptation I’m tamping down when it comes to this story. It would be easy to destroy Moore’s specious, unconstitutional logic and hold forth as to how a state supreme court justice should know better. In fact, it would be TOO easy. WAY too easy. I’ll let that sit, perhaps for another time…but probably not.
Moore’s smart enough to know that nullification as a strategy has been struck down by the Supreme Court. He also knows (though he refuses to acknowledge) that federal law and federal courts supersede those of any state. Moore is using this issue as a means of burnishing his political prospects, same as it always was. He’ll portray himself as standing up for the rights of good, God-fearing Alabamaniacs, who KNOW in their heart of hearts that same-sex marriage is an abomination against Almighty God. The inaccuracy of this theology is a thorough, WAY too easy takedown best left for another time.
Except that it’s not an abomination…and a pronounced majority of Americans support marriage equality. The problem is that if Moore didn’t have his hateful agenda to sell, he’d have nothing to offer, and he’s have trouble being elected Jefferson County Dogcatcher. He’d be lucky if he could find a job managing a Dairy Queen in Mobile. All he has in his quiver is hatred, homophobia, fear mongering, and anger. Take that away…and the Emperor would have no clothes.
If Moore decides that he’s serious and he’s going to stand in the way of federal law and the decisions of federal courts, then I say we let him. He’ll be arrested and he’ll find that there’s plenty of room in the federal correctional system for him to languish and be forgotten. As a state supreme court justice, Moore is granted the right to interpret law, NOT the right to make it or determine which laws he will obey. That this knowledge is basic to his role makes his grandstanding that much worse.
There’s a name for those like Moore who pick and choose which law they will obey. They’re called “criminals,” and Judge Roy Moore, if he chooses to travel the path he claims he will, deserves to be tried and convicted like so many of those who’ve stood before him over the years. Beyond that, Moore isn’t worth the time of day. Let him make his choice and suffer the consequences.
