Federal judge ruling strikes part of HB 1523

U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves issued Monday a permanent injunction barring Mississippi from denying same-sex marriage licenses, meaning no circuit clerk or staff member clerk can deny a gay couple a marriage license even if House Bill 1523 is in effect.

"If this opinion by the federal court denies even one Mississippian of their fundamental right to practice their religion, then all Mississippians are denied their 1st Amendment rights,” Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves said Monday. “I hope the state’s attorneys will quickly appeal this decision to the 5th Circuit to protect the deeply held religious beliefs of all Mississippians.”

In an order Monday, Judge Carlton Reeves allowed the Campaign for Southern Equality to reopen its case banning the state law prohibiting same-sex couples in Mississippi from marrying and to inform clerks of a permanent injunction no matter HB 1523.

Campaign for Southern Equality lead attorney Roberta Kaplan said, "A year after the Supreme Court guaranteed marriage equality in the Obergefell decision, we are delighted that Judge Reeves reaffirmed the power of federal courts to definitively say what the United States Constitution means, recognizing that the issue of gay and lesbian Mississippians' right to marry on equal terms ‘will not be adjudicated anew after every ... session’ of the Mississippi Legislature. We are confident that Judge Reeves will rule in favor of the gay and lesbian couples we are proud to represent."

Kaplan argued in court Friday that HB 1523 goes beyond other religious accommodation legislation by setting out three religious beliefs people could use under the law to deny services to same-sex couples.

However, attorney for the state Paul Barnes said no same-sex couple has been denied a marriage license in Mississippi since the U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year. HB 1523 provides circuit clerks and deputy clerks with the right to recuse themselves from providing a marriage license to same-sex couples if it is against their religious belief. However, the law outlined the steps that must be taken and said the clerks had to provide a way or information on how same-sex couples could get a marriage license.

READ STORY ON ARGUMENTS IN CASE

Reeves said in his ruling that "plaintiffs are concerned that newly enacted House Bill 1523, the 'Protecting Freedom of Conscience from Government Discrimination Act,' will violate the permanent injunction they secured in this case in 2015. They seek to reopen the case to, among other things, file a supplemental complaint naming the State Registrar of Vital Records as a defendant, force the registrar to post certain records online, and amend the permanent injunction to ensure that their Fourteenth Amendment rights are protected. The state opposes all relief. For the reasons that follow, the court concludes that the motion should be granted in limited part. Section 3(8)(a) of HB 1523 significantly changes the landscape of Mississippi’s marriage licensing laws. The case will be reopened to address that change. The plaintiffs’ request to file a supplemental complaint against the registrar, however, will be denied."

Until June 2015, states like Mississippi treated same-sex couples differently in the marriage licensing and recognition process, according to the judge. He said the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Obergefell vs. Hodges, allowing same-sex marriages and the permanent injunction were issued to halt that practice,.

"Having reviewed the relevant section of HB 1523, the parties’ arguments,and the scope of the Supreme Court’s ruling in Obergefell, the Court finds that (Section) 3(8)(a) may in fact amend Mississippi’s marriage licensing regime in such a way as to conflict with Obergefell," the judge said in Monday's ruling. "Section 3(8)(a) is a significant change sufficient to reopen this case and reconsider the language of the permanent  injunction."

Reeves said Mississippi’s elected officials can disagree with Obergefell, of course, and can 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.

"And the judiciary will remain vigilant whenever a named party to an injunction is accused of circumventing that injunction, directly or indirectly," said Reeves.

Monday's ruling doesn't prevent HB 1523 from going into effect Friday. Reeves said the motion is granted in part and denied in part. The case is reopened for the parties to confer about how to provide clerks with actual notice of the permanent injunction. The parties shall also confer on appropriate language to include in an amended permanent injunction. Reeves said a
status conference will be set in the coming weeks to discuss the results of those discussions and hear how the parties wish to proceed.

No other relief is granted at this time, he said.

Contact Jimmie E. Gates at 601-961-7212 or jgates@jackson.gannett.com. Follow @jgatesnews on Twitter.