# I pit the Louisiana judge who is, apparently, stuck in a time warp **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 15, 2009, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-louisiana-judge-who-is-apparently-stuck-in-a-time-warp/513960 "2009-10-15T22:32:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![cwthree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de0a6/32.png) [@cwthree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cwthree)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2009, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-louisiana-judge-who-is-apparently-stuck-in-a-time-warp/513960/1 "2009-10-15T22:32:05Z")
That would be Keith Bardwell of Tangipahoa Parish, who [refused to sign a marriage license for a couple in which both members were not of the same race](http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091015/ap_on_re_us/us_interracial_rebuff). He says he’s refused to marry several couples for this reason, explaining: > [@](#): > > “I’m not a racist. I just don’t believe in mixing the races that way,” He says he tries “to treat everyone equally” and claims there’s no problem because he didn’t try to keep them from getting married but simply refused to do the job himself. Oh, and he says he has “piles and piles of black friends.” Probably not anymore, though. Asshole. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2009, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-louisiana-judge-who-is-apparently-stuck-in-a-time-warp/513960/2 "2009-10-15T22:41:28Z")
But “they” use his bathroom!! Oh yeah… his “piles and piles” of black friends? In a ditch out back. ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2009, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-louisiana-judge-who-is-apparently-stuck-in-a-time-warp/513960/3 "2009-10-15T22:41:39Z")
“Piles of black friends”? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2009, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-louisiana-judge-who-is-apparently-stuck-in-a-time-warp/513960/4 "2009-10-15T22:42:06Z")
> [@cwthree](#): > > Oh, and he says he has “piles and piles of black friends.” "They come to my home, I marry them, they use my bathroom. " > [@](#): > > Bardwell said he has discussed the topic with blacks and whites, along with witnessing some interracial marriages. He came to the conclusion that most of black society does not readily accept offspring of such relationships, and neither does white society, he said. > > “There is a problem with both groups accepting a child from such a marriage,” Bardwell said. “I think those children suffer and I won’t help put them through it.” Well yeah, he’s got a point there. I don’t know of any product of a mixed-race couple who ever made anything of his life… ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2009, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-louisiana-judge-who-is-apparently-stuck-in-a-time-warp/513960/5 "2009-10-15T22:47:35Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Well yeah, he’s got a point there. I don’t know of any product of a mixed-race couple who ever made anything of his life… I think one made it as far as the Illinois State Legislature a few years back. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2009, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-louisiana-judge-who-is-apparently-stuck-in-a-time-warp/513960/6 "2009-10-15T22:48:44Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > I think one made it as far as the Illinois State Legislature a few years back. LIES! ---
**Author:** ![cwthree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de0a6/32.png) [@cwthree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cwthree)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2009, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-louisiana-judge-who-is-apparently-stuck-in-a-time-warp/513960/7 "2009-10-15T22:51:43Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > "They come to my home, I marry them, they use my bathroom. " > Well yeah, he’s got a point there. I don’t know of any product of a mixed-race couple who ever made anything of his life… Won’t someone _please_ think of the children? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2009, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-louisiana-judge-who-is-apparently-stuck-in-a-time-warp/513960/8 "2009-10-15T22:54:39Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > I think one made it as far as the Illinois State Legislature a few years back. Yeah, but he grew up in Kenya. Mixed race children don’t have to deal with the same stigma there. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2009, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-louisiana-judge-who-is-apparently-stuck-in-a-time-warp/513960/9 "2009-10-15T22:55:47Z")
> [@PlainJain](#): > > “Piles of black friends”? > :dubious: Wood pile perhaps. Ya know, not every legal issue is as black and white as it first appears… ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2009, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-louisiana-judge-who-is-apparently-stuck-in-a-time-warp/513960/10 "2009-10-15T23:09:38Z")
Well, the kids would be ugly (Halle Berry), no good at sports (Tiger Woods, et al), not very smart and wouldn’t be accepted by the larger society (Obama). Maybe we could let them marry if they were sterilized first. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2009, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-louisiana-judge-who-is-apparently-stuck-in-a-time-warp/513960/11 "2009-10-15T23:12:42Z")
I wonder if this guy was elected or appointed? Because they ought to get rid of not only him, but whoever put him into that job. ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2009, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-louisiana-judge-who-is-apparently-stuck-in-a-time-warp/513960/12 "2009-10-15T23:14:03Z")
If we’re going to be shallow we should go the other way and encourage mixed relationships. It might just be me, but they seem to make preternaturally beautiful offspring. When I check out the background of a particularly alluring actress or model she invariably has far flung exotic parents, like Arabic and Eskimo or something. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2009, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-louisiana-judge-who-is-apparently-stuck-in-a-time-warp/513960/13 "2009-10-15T23:16:40Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Well, the kids would be ugly (Halle Berry), no good at sports (Tiger Woods, et al), not very smart and wouldn’t be accepted by the larger society (Obama). Maybe we could let them marry if they were sterilized first. Sterilize parents before they can produce politicians? You may be onto something there. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2009, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-louisiana-judge-who-is-apparently-stuck-in-a-time-warp/513960/14 "2009-10-15T23:27:12Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > I wonder if this guy was elected or appointed? Because they ought to get rid of not only him, but whoever put him into that job. They’re [elected](http://www.sos.louisiana.gov/Portals/0/elections/pdf/QualificationsRev.9-09.pdf) in Louisiana. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2009, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-louisiana-judge-who-is-apparently-stuck-in-a-time-warp/513960/15 "2009-10-15T23:35:33Z")
Ok, how do we dispose of a whole parish? ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2009, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-louisiana-judge-who-is-apparently-stuck-in-a-time-warp/513960/16 "2009-10-15T23:39:15Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > "They come to my home, I marry them, they use my bathroom. " > Well yeah, he’s got a point there. I don’t know of any product of a mixed-race couple who ever made anything of his life… I think he is referring to American citizens. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2009, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-louisiana-judge-who-is-apparently-stuck-in-a-time-warp/513960/17 "2009-10-15T23:39:56Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Ok, how do we dispose of a whole parish? Katrina? ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2009, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-louisiana-judge-who-is-apparently-stuck-in-a-time-warp/513960/18 "2009-10-15T23:44:29Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > I think one made it as far as the Illinois State Legislature a few years back. Yeah, but wasn’t he from Kenya or Hawaii or one of them other furrin nations? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2009, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-louisiana-judge-who-is-apparently-stuck-in-a-time-warp/513960/19 "2009-10-15T23:44:49Z")
> [@PlainJain](#): > > “Piles of black friends”? “An excellent beginning”. …oops, was that out loud? ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2009, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-louisiana-judge-who-is-apparently-stuck-in-a-time-warp/513960/20 "2009-10-15T23:47:17Z")
Here at the other end of the Mighty Miss… “Among married black men in Minnesota, 44 percent have wives who are not black; among married black women in the state, 14 percent have husbands who are not black. Nationally, the figures are 7 percent for men and 3 percent for women.” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-louisiana-judge-who-is-apparently-stuck-in-a-time-warp/513960.md?page=2)