Prattville minister pleads guilty in same sex marriage case

This whole fracas "began" in February when "Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore threw the state into disarray when, at the 11th hour, he ordered probate judges not to allow gay marriages. He gave the order even though a federal judge ruled the state's ban was unconstitutional and the U.S. Supreme Court allowed the marriages to begin Monday,,,.   Moore said probate judges were not bound by Granade's order last month because the judges were not defendants in an earlier lawsuit brought by two women seeking recognition of their California marriage."

From there, an Autauga County Probate Judge, Alfred Booth, allowed marriage licenses to be issued but prohibited any marriages to take place in the courthouse as long as same-sex couples are allowed to marry.  This led to the dispute with Anne Susan Diprizio.  Diprizio is a minister and her offer to perform the ceremony for them lead to her arrest on charges of disorderly conduct.

If you remember, windbag extraordinaire Todd Starnes. in citing Tony Perkins, said,

“Americans are witnesses to the reality that redefining marriage is less about the marriage altar and more about fundamentally altering the freedoms of the other 98 percent of Americans,” Perkins said.

Why should evangelical Christian ministers be forced to perform and celebrate any marriage that conflicts with their beliefs?

,,,

“Government officials are making clear they will use their government power to punish those who oppose the advances of homosexual activists,” Perkins said.

So why aren't the "religious liberty" folks protesting?  It is clear that Diprizio was prevented from practicing her religion.

A Prattville Unitarian minister, arrested on a misdemeanor disorderly conduct charge in February for trying to marry a same sex couple, pleaded guilty to the charge Monday morning in Autauga County Circuit Court.

Anne Susan DiPrizio, 44, of the 300 block of Cambridge Street, entered the plea before Judge Ben Fuller, but not before some delays and judicial wrangling. He gave her 30 days in the Autauga Metro Jail, and then suspended the sentence in place of 6 months unsupervised probation. Fuller also ordered her to pay a $250 fine and other associated court costs.

It should be noted, "Gov. Bentley, a Republican and a Southern Baptist, said he believes strongly that marriage is between one man and one woman, but that the issue should be "worked out through the proper legal channels" and not through defiance of the law."


Prattville minister pleads guilty in same sex marriage case