Friday, the United States Supreme Court granted same-sex couples across the nation the right to marry in all 50 states.
According to an Associated Press article, the vote was five to four.
“The court now holds that same-sex couples may exercise the fundamental right to marry,” Justice Anthony Kennedy said in the article. “No longer may this liberty be denied to them.”
Chief Justice John Roberts read a summary of his dissent from the bench, the article states.
“This court is not a legislature,” Roberts said in the article. “Whether same-sex marriage is a good idea should be of no concern to us. If you are among the many Americans – of whatever sexual orientation – who favor expanding same-sex marriage, by all means celebrate today’s decision. But do not celebrate the Constitution. It had nothing to do with it.”
Before Friday’s ruling, there were 14 states that maintained a same-sex marriage ban, the article states.
However, Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood said in a release that his office is waiting on a decision from an appeals court in New Orleans before same-sex couples in Mississippi can apply for their marriage license.
According to an Associated Press article, Hood said the court must lift a hold on a gay marriage court case from Mississippi.
“The Office of the Attorney General is certainly not standing in the way of the Supreme Court’s decision,” Hood said in a release. “We simply want to inform our citizens of the procedure that takes effect after this ruling. The Supreme Court decision is the law of the land and we do not dispute that. When the fifth circuit lifts the stay of Judge Reeves’ order, it will become effective in Mississippi and circuit clerks will be required to issue same-sex marriage licenses.”
Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant said in a release the federal court has usurped the right of states to self-govern.
“Throughout history, states have had the authority to regulate marriage within their borders,” Bryant said in the release. “Today a federal court has usurped that right to self-goverance and has mandated that states must comply with federal marriage standards––standards that are out of step with the wishes of many in the United States and that are certainly out of step with the majority of Mississippians.”
In a release, U.S. Congressman Steven Palazzo said he was disappointed in the Supreme Court’s decision.
“Under the U.S. Constitution, marriage laws have always been a matter left for the states and Mississippians have overwhelmingly opposed same sex marriage time and again,” Palazzo said in the release. “The Supreme Court’s ruling not only undermines the will of the people of Mississippi and the Constitution, but tears at the very fabric of our democracy by setting an alarming precedent for the future of states’ rights.”
District 40 Senator Angela Hill said she was not surprised by Friday’s ruling given “the historic, judicial tyranny of courts legislating from the bench.”
“Nine unelected judges do not have the moral authority to alter the meaning of the Biblical marriage covenant only between a man and a woman,” Hill said. “Religious freedom is eroding at the hand of rogue judges, and this freedom will be greatly tested in the future. I fear that churches and pastors refusing to perform same sex marriages may be penalized under government rule. Civil partnerships could have been legally recognized without the high court reinventing an institution that’s been ordained and recognized for thousands of years as between a man and a woman. The judges instead decided to act omnipotently.”