Louisiana judge denies marriage license to interracial couple

[merithyn]

Meri,

Why can't you be part of the silent minority sheesh

I'm female. It's not possible.

[sbr]

Seems a non story to me.  He refuses to marry any mixed race couples and there are other Justices of the Peace in the parish who can do the same job, at very likely the same price. :shrug:

[merithyn]

Seems a non story to me.  He refuses to marry any mixed race couples and there are other Justices of the Peace in the parish who can do the same job, at very likely the same price. :shrug:

Except that he's not allowed to do that.

[Habbaku]

10% of our population

BS statistics are fun.

[Neil]

Then they should certainly know that that comment is ignorant, and an affront to 10% of our population, plus those who support them. Meh... not worth derailing the thread over, but still stupid.

10% of the population isn't gay.  You are an enemy of order.

[sbr]

Seems a non story to me.  He refuses to marry any mixed race couples and there are other Justices of the Peace in the parish who can do the same job, at very likely the same price. :shrug:

Except that he's not allowed to do that.

I must have missed that in the article, I will go back and re-read it.  Since he mentioned that he has done this previously, and there are other JoP in the parish who can sign the license I assumed it was legal.

[Neil]

Meri's opinion is not to be trusted.  She's not an expert, and she's an enemy of order.

[Barrister]

This is obviously bullshit as gays can't marry. Stupid comment to make by the ACLU.

FWIW the ACLU (to which I donate  ) is a strong supporter of gay marriage equality and of gay rights in general.

Then they should certainly know that that comment is ignorant, and an affront to 10% of our population, plus those who support them. Meh... not worth derailing the thread over, but still stupid.

10%

[sbr]

My understanding is that priests, judges, JoP have the legal authority to marry people, but no one is required to actually do it, it is like a side job.  I was married by a judge, the first one I called didn't perform any marriages.  I called another and I was 5 year from a divorce.

[Barrister]

My understanding is that priests, judges, JoP have the legal authority to marry people, but no one is required to actually do it, it is like a side job.  I was married by a judge, the first one I called didn't perform any marriages.

It's not that you're not allowed to discriminate: you are.  But you can not discriminate based on illegal grounds.

In this instance: you can discriminate because you don't do weddings, or you don't work weekends, or only if you get paid a certain amount.  But discrimination based on certain criteria, like race, would be prohibited.

[Caliga]

Seems a non story to me.  He refuses to marry any mixed race couples and there are other Justices of the Peace in the parish who can do the same job, at very likely the same price. :shrug:

The reason it's news is that it's shocking to many people that someone in a position of authority like that would choose to deny a license on those grounds.  It's 2009, not 1949.  Whether or not he *can* choose to deny a license on those grounds is immaterial to the value of the incident as a news story.

[merithyn]

There's no legitimate statistics that say what percentage is gay versus straight, so I went with the number I hear most often thrown around. Plus, I like nice even numbers and 10% is that.

[Hansmeister]

There's no legitimate statistics that say what percentage is gay versus straight, so I went with the number I hear most often thrown around. Plus, I like nice even numbers and 10% is that.

It is Alfred Kinsey who came up with the 10% by conducting a "study" which consisted of interviewing his friends.  The only thing he proved was that he had a lot of gay friends.  The 10% is thrown around by the gay lobby a lot because they of course want to inflate their importance.

From surveys I've seen the percentage is 2-4%, depending on how you ask the question (about 2% outright admit in being gay, while another 2% claim to be bisexual or having "experimented" wirh gay sex).

[DontSayBanana]

I must have missed that in the article, I will go back and re-read it.  Since he mentioned that he has done this previously, and there are other JoP in the parish who can sign the license I assumed it was legal.

You could make a racial discrimination case because he opened his big fat mouth; he admitted he made it a policy to render inequal service with racial considerations.  That was outlawed in Loving v. Virginia.

As to the gay marriage question, I think Loving v. Virginia should be cited- if the state can't legislate the races party to a marriage, then it shouldn't be able to legislate the genders party to a marriage.

[Jaron]

10%