MONTGOMERY: The Foundation for Moral Law, an Alabama-based legal institution dedicated to the defense of the Constitution as written and understood by its Framers, took issue with U.S. District Court Judge Callie Granade’s Wednesday’s order purporting to bar state officials from enforcing the provision of the Alabama Constitution that bans same-sex marriage.

Foundation President Kayla Moore noted, “Judge Granade’s jurisdiction extends over only the Southern District of Alabama. She has no authority to bind officials in other parts of the State.” She added, “It’s not over just because Judge Granade says it’s over. In fact, her order acknowledges that the Alabama Supreme Court’s March 4, 2016 order denying the parties’ motions and petitions did not vacate or set aside the Court’s March 3, 2015 writ of mandamus directing probate judges to follow the Alabama Constitution. That’s what we’ve been saying all along.”

Foundation Senior Counsel John Eidsmoe stated further, “Much more than same-sex marriage is at stake here; this involves the whole federal versus state relationship in our constitutional system. The Obergefell decision was procured by illegitimate means because two Justices who had personally performed same-sex marriages refused to recuse, and it is utterly devoid of constitutional support. Article VI, Section 2 says the Constitution, federal laws, and federal treaties are the supreme law of the land; it says nothing of federal court decisions. Nothing in the Constitution says every federal, state, and local official has to march to the beat of a federal judge’s drum, no matter how erratic that drumbeat may be.”

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