It’s time to end the fight over marriage in Mississippi
U.S. Judge Carlton Reeves got it right. Circuit clerks shouldn’t let their religious beliefs get in the way of issuing a government license — in this case, the license to marry.
Reeves said the state cannot enforce the portion of its “religious freedom” law that would have allowed clerks to recuse themselves from issuing licenses to LGBT couples.
Clerks, he said, must provide equal treatment to all couples, gay or straight.
The law was a response to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that essentially made same-sex marriage legal in all states. Mississippi’s Republican leadership has been fighting that ruling ever since.
It’s not a winning hand and state officials should stop wasting taxpayers’ money on legal challenges.
“Mississippi’s elected officials may disagree with Obergefell (the case that led to the marriage ruling), 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 Monday, according to The Associated Press.
“But the marriage license issue will not be adjudicated anew after every legislative session.”
Mississippi’s elected officials may disagree with Obergefell (the case that led to the marriage ruling), of course, and may express that disagreement as they see fit, by advocating for a constitutional amendment to overturn the decision, for example. But the marriage license issue will not be adjudicated anew after every legislative session.
U.S. Judge Carlton Reeves
Those words don’t leave a lot of legal wiggle room.
And should our leaders decide to advocate for constitutional change, they should pay for that advocacy themselves.
Mississippi, as we have often noted, has too many pressing problems to spend taxpayer money on defending discriminatory laws.
And Mississippi should drop its defense of other portions of the law as well.
Then it would have more time and attention to devote to lifting our education system off the bottom of national rankings; to fighting poverty; and to upgrading our highways and other infrastructure.
Sure, this fight has made Mississippi look even worse in the eyes of its detractors and it has undoubtedly cost the Mississippi Coast tourism dollars.
But more than that, it is just plain wrong. Discrimination is wrong. It’s time to stop.
This editorial represents the views of the Sun Herald editorial board. Opinions of columnists and cartoonists are their own.
This story was originally published June 28, 2016 at 7:37 PM with the headline "It’s time to end the fight over marriage in Mississippi."