Alabama Judge Asks State Supreme Court To Issue 'Landmark' Ruling Nullifying Supreme Court Marriage Decision - The New Civil Rights Movement

An Alabama probate judge has asked the State Supreme Court to overrule the U.S. Supreme Court decision that brought marriage equality to the country - even Alabama.

The 18-page brief, filed Monday by Probate Judge Nick Williams, reads more like a temper tantrum that a legal document, calling the Supreme Court "semi-absolute rulers" and urging Alabama's chief Supreme Court justice, Roy Moore, to end his recusal on marriage cases. Marriage rights activists have compared Judge Williams to Alabama Governor George Wallace, who in the 1960s, stood against desegregation ordered by the federal courts.

"The eyes of the nation are again turned upon Alabama." wrote Judge Williams. "This court has the lifetime opportunity to issue a landmark ruling that could inspire other courts, officials, and legislatures to stand with us."

"For such a time as this, the justices of the Alabama Supreme Court have an opportunity to safety traditional marriage and spark a rebirth of constitutional federalism. Who knows when, or if, that opportunity will come again?"

Judge Williams, who is a product of the radical right-wing Liberty University, sang the praises of the Alabama Supreme Court for its order demanding probate judges stop issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples after a federal district court struck down the state's marriage ban last March.

The State Supreme Court issued that order as the result of a lawsuit filed by two anti-gay groups, the Alabama Policy Institute and the Alabama Citizens Action Program. According to Al.com, both plaintiffs argued there was precedence for rejecting a U.S. Supreme Court mandate believed to be unlawful. The groups cited the rejection of pro-slavery laws in the 1850s, such as the Wisconsin Supreme Court's refusal to submit to the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, which required runaway slaves be returned to their former owners. They did not, however, suggest the state could defy the Supreme Court.

When the U.S. Supreme Court legalized marriage equality in June, Judge Moore asked the Alabama Policy Institute and the Alabama Citizens Action Program to submit briefs on what they wanted the State Supreme Court to do in light of that decision. It is for that ongoing case that Judge Williams has submitted an amicus brief, asking the state Supreme Court to defy the U.S. Supreme Court, and refuse to accept its decision in Obergefell V Hodge.

Alabama Judge Asks State Supreme Court To Issue 'Landmark' Ruling Nullifying Supreme Court Marriage Decision - The New Civil Rights Movement