A federal judge has just dismissed a lawsuit filed against a North Carolina law enacted specifically to “protect” magistrates from having to issue same-sex marriage licenses or officiate weddings of same-sex couples. The judge dismissed the lawsuit, ruling that the plaintiffs did not have legal standing to bring the case, emphasizing that none of the six individuals could show evidence that they were personally affected by the law.
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The couples who sued the state courts director also “lack standing by virtue of the fact that their claims are merely generalized grievances with a state law with which they disagree”, Cogburn said in the decision released late Tuesday. Gilbert Breedlove, of Swain County, N.C., and Thomas Holland, of Graham County, N.C., resigned the positions as magistrates after John Smith, who was then head of the state Administrative Office of the Courts, issued an October 13, 2014, guidance to judicial employees that said magistrates who refused to perform same-sex marriages would be fired, regardless of their reasons.
The law “expressly declares that magistrates’ religious beliefs are superior to their oath of judicial office to uphold and support the federal constitution”.
The ruling is a victory for supporters of the law who say it protects the First Amendment religious freedom rights of magistrates and register of deeds employees while complying with the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling on marriage. “The law spends public money to advance those religious beliefs. That is a straightforward violation of the 1st Amendment”, Luke Largess, a lawyer for the couples, said in a news release.
The six plaintiffs, who include gay couples, argued in the suit filed in U.S. District Court in Asheville that the legislation – Senate Bill 2 – allows magistrates and other officials performing marriages to put their personal beliefs before their sworn constitutional duty.
The bill was originally sponsored by Senate President pro tempore Phil Berger, who has been actively working to fight same-sex marriage for years.
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The nonprofit group the Liberty Counsel, which represented a magistrate as an intervenor in the case, said both the U.S. Constitution and the North Carolina Constitution require accommodation of religious beliefs even for government officials. The state courts system considers recusal paperwork part of personnel records.
