The Alabama Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a petition to stop same-sex marriage in the state but issued a lengthy opinion that severely criticised the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling on Obergefell v. Hodges as "immoral" and "lawless."
The state High Court did not rule on the state's Sanctity of Marriage Amendment and Marriage Protection Act, which prescribes marriage as only between a man and a woman.
"As stated at the beginning of this special concurrence, the certificate of judgment in this case does not disturb the March 2015 orders of this court that uphold the constitutionality of the Sanctity of Marriage Amendment and the Alabama Marriage Protection Act. For that reason, as explained above, I concur," wrote Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore in the order.
Moore blasted the U.S. Supreme Court's June 2015 ruling as "completely without constitutional authority, a usurpation of state sovereignty, and an effort to impose the will of 'five lawyers,'" according to WND.
"Indeed, the Obergefell majority even presumes to override the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, which limit the applicability of injunctions to parties, their agents, and those acting in concert with them," Moore added.
Moore said the ruling is "like Dred Scott and Roe v. Wade that preceded it ... [and] is an immoral, unconstitutional, and tyrannical opinion."
"Its consequences for our society will be devastating, and its elevation of immorality to a special 'right' enforced through civil penalties will be completely destructive of our religious liberty," he said.
Moore believes the five justices in the majority had no authority to make such a ruling.
"That a majority of the court may identify an 'injustice' that merits constitutional correction does not dispense with the means the Constitution has provided in Article V for its own amendment," he said.
Moore added, "Chief Justice Roberts portrays the majority as thieves who are 'stealing' the marriage issue from the people. Justice Scalia uses a similar metaphor, stating that the majority 'robs the people of ... the freedom to govern themselves.' These metaphors identify the essence of the majority's actions: an illegal displacement and usurpation of the democratic process."
In another case, an Alabama judged ruled that the state's death penalty process is unconstitutional as it violates the defendants' right to due process.
Judge Tracie Todd of the 10th Judicial Circuit Court wrote that judges are improperly allowed to override jury recommendations to impose life in prison without parole and instead impose the death penalty, NBC News and the Associated Press reported.
"At present Alabama is solitary in its unbridled system of allowing judges to deviate from jury advisory verdicts in order to effect life-to-death sentence overrides," Todd said.
The ruling will affect four cases brought to the court in Jefferson County.
Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange said the state would appeal Todd's ruling.
"We fully expect today's ruling by Judge Todd to be reversed," Strange said.
