The star of popular reality TV show Duck Dynasty has voiced support for Chief Justice Roy Moore of the State of Alabama.
Chief Justice Moore attracted national attention last month when he told probate judges in Alabama to ignore a ruling by US District Judge Callie Granade that overturned the state's ban on same-sex marriages.
Judge Granade had ruled against Probate Judge Don Davis of Alabama's Mobile County after he refused to issue a marriage licence to two women who were married in California.
In her ruling, Judge Granade said that the state's ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional and that Judge Davis could not refuse to issue the licences, provided that the couple provided the requisite paperwork.
In response, Chief Justice Moore specifically ordered the other probate judges in Alabama to refrain from issuing marriage licences to same-sex couples, stating that they were not defendants in the case and were therefore not bound by the District Court's decision.
He further described Judge Granade's decision as "federal intrusion of state sovereignty."
"What a judge says is not law," Chief Justice Moore said on Fox News Sunday.
Chief Justice Moore has found a supporter in "Duck Dynasty" star Phil Robertson, who voiced his agreement with the order in a speaking engagement in Frazer United Methodist Church in Montgomery, Alabama on Friday.
"Roy Moore is spot on," Robertson is quoted by the Montgomery Adviser as saying. "He is correct, and Roy, if you hear this, do not back up because you are right on this one."
Robertson himself is no stranger to controversy, especially in relation to his beliefs on same-sex relationships. He attracted attention when he voiced his opinion on a US Center for Disease Control report on sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) before the Conservative Political Action Conference last week. The report said that 110 million people in the United States had an STD.
"I'm just saying if one man and one woman marry each other and keep their intimate contact between the two of them, you won't get some disease," Robertson said during his CPAC speech.
