Pulaski County Judge’s Marriage Ruling Comes as No Surprise

1 CommentMarriage,

Yesterday Circuit Judge Wendell Griffen issued a ruling validating same-sex marriages performed in Arkansas from May 9, 2014, to May 15, 2014.

In layman’s terms, the case has to do with a technicality from Judge Chris Piazza’s same-sex marriage ruling issued on May 9, 2014; in his ruling, Judge Piazza struck Arkansas’ constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman, but he failed to strike all state laws prohibiting same-sex marriage.

Judge Piazza filed a “correction” to his ruling on May 15 striking those state laws as well. However, by then many same-sex couples had already obtained marriage licenses from the state; the State of Arkansas contends that same-sex marriages performed from May 9 to May 15 are invalid, because they were solemnized before Judge Piazza filed his “correction.”

Yesterday, Judge Wendell Griffen ruled the same-sex marriages performed from May 9 – 15, 2014, were in fact valid despite Judge Piazza’s failure to strike all applicable state laws related to same-sex marriage. While we–and Attorney General Leslie Rutledge–disagree with Judge Griffen’s ruling, it really comes as no surprise.

On May 12, 2014, Judge Wendell Griffen presided over at least one same-sex marriage in the rotunda of the Pulaski County Courthouse in Little Rock; pictures of Judge Griffen appeared in the news to prove it. At the time, Judge Griffen clearly believed same-sex marriage was legal in Arkansas, despite the fact some state laws prohibiting same-sex marriage had been left in place by Judge Piazza. In light of that, it’s really no surprise Judge Griffen ruled the way he did.

In fact, in his opinion handed down yesterday Judge Griffen actually went so far as to describe Judge Piazza’s 2014 ruling as “courageous and plainly stated.” If Judge Piazza’s 2014 ruling really was “plainly stated,” I wonder why Judge Piazza had to correct his ruling after the fact; why the Arkansas Supreme Court has taken so many months to review the ruling on appeal; and why addition litigation has been necessary to clarify whether or not the same-sex marriages performed in the immediate aftermath of Judge Piazza’s ruling were actually legal.

The larger questions surrounding same-sex marriage still rest with the Arkansas Supreme Court–which is reviewing an appeal of Judge Piazza’s 2014 ruling–and the U.S. Supreme Court, which is expected to hand down a decision on the constitutionality of state marriage laws sometime this month.

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Why Churches Should Not Get Out of the “Marriage Business”

Marriage,

As judges continue to redefine marriage in spite of millenia of human history, religious tradition, and overwhelming majorities of voters, many Christians have called for churches and ministers to get out of the “marriage business” altogether.

The idea is as the legal definition of marriage has changed, ministers may be compromising their convictions by signing state-issued marriage licenses for Christian couples.

John Stonestreet at the Chuck Colson Center for Christian Worldview has authored an excellent commentary on why ministers should not get out of the “marriage business”–at least not yet.

Stonestreet writes,

“First of all, there’s nothing on a state marriage license that requires clergy to say that marriage is something that it is not. But by refusing to sign any marriage licenses, we’re missing an opportunity to proclaim to the state and to the public what marriage truly is.

“Second, by backing out of the civil marriage business, we risk perpetuating that illusion that marriage is something the government defines instead of something it recognizes, and we perpetuate the myth that the Christian view of marriage is only for us Christians. In fact, marriage existed before the church and before the state. It’s the job of both institutions to recognize it.

“And here’s a question that bothers me. If clergy should not participate in civil marriage, why should laity? If it’s wrong for pastors, isn’t it wrong for parishioners?”

You can read Stonestreet’s full commentary here or listen to it below.

[audio:http://bit.ly/1ATLii9|titles=John Stonestreet – Separating Civil and Christian Marriage]

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Family Council Calls Marriage Ruling “Judicial Tyranny”

Marriage, News,

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, November 25, 2014

On Tuesday U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker struck down Amendment 83 to the Arkansas Constitution defining marriage in Arkansas as the union of one man and one woman.

Family Council President Jerry Cox released a statement in response to the ruling, saying, “This is another example of judicial tyranny. Arkansans voted overwhelmingly to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman. Their elected officials voted for that definition when they passed Arkansas’ Defense of Marriage Act. By issuing this ruling, one federal judge is saying seventy-five percent of Arkansas voters and lawmakers do not matter. If that isn’t tyranny, I don’t know what is.”

Cox said the ruling sets a troubling precedent. “What Judge Baker effectively did was erase Arkansas’ definition of marriage. It opens the door for marriage to become anything. We have already seen polygamists in Utah and elsewhere try to ride the coat tails of same-sex marriage activists in court. Rulings like this one only fuel those efforts.”

Cox said this case is almost certain to land before the U.S. Supreme Court. “This fight is far from over. Judge Baker has put a stay on her ruling until the Eighth Circuit, which includes Arkansas, issues a ruling. The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals recently ruled that marriage amendments like Arkansas’ are constitutional. Any time you have federal judges disagreeing about what is constitutional, the case is almost guaranteed to go to the U.S. Supreme Court. I hope the higher courts exercise enough restraint to respect the wishes of voters. If Americans are not free to decide how they will define something as basic as marriage, then what are they free to decide?”

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