# 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:** 6
**Author:** ![Scuba\_Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Scuba\_Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scuba_Ben)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-louisiana-judge-who-is-apparently-stuck-in-a-time-warp/513960/101 "2009-10-16T15:52:12Z")
> [@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… > [@Simplicio](#): > > I think one made it as far as the Illinois State Legislature a few years back. > [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Yeah, but he grew up in Kenya. Mixed race children don’t have to deal with the same stigma there. I think I heard the same story – and he quit his position in the IL Legislature partway through a term, and moved out of state. He even dragged his young daughters out of their schools and away from their friends!!!eleventy ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-louisiana-judge-who-is-apparently-stuck-in-a-time-warp/513960/102 "2009-10-16T15:55:07Z")
> [@Polycarp](#): > > As I outlined in my response to him in post #90, I don’t think that’s what **SA** is doing here. Give him opportunity to respond, please. No, let’s not. Total waste of time. I’m tired of the whole schtick. \*\* Really Not All That Bright\*\* nailed it. I would also add to his/her list: -Someone gives SA a cite to a reputable source that refutes his argument, and he comes back with a variant on: > [@](#): > > I don’t read cites, I rely on my intuition and personal knowledge, combined with an anecdote that I vaguely remember. Therefore I am right and you are wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-louisiana-judge-who-is-apparently-stuck-in-a-time-warp/513960/103 "2009-10-16T15:57:10Z")
> [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](#): > > If only there was some cells that can become other cells. Maybe we could solve the issue from which this stems. Who wouldn’t be in support of doing some research into this? Very nicely penned, sir. Or typed. Or whatever. In any case, I applaud. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-louisiana-judge-who-is-apparently-stuck-in-a-time-warp/513960/104 "2009-10-16T15:57:43Z")
[QUOTE=Keith Bardwel] 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.” [/QUOTE] I have not read this entire thread, so I may not be the first person to point this out, but isn’t it an unfortunate fact that mixed-race offspring have a cultural advantage over darker-skinned, more “black” looking offspring? In other words, if this is really the judge’s justification, he’s either lying, incredibly ignorant, or living in the 1930s. Or, you know, all three. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-louisiana-judge-who-is-apparently-stuck-in-a-time-warp/513960/105 "2009-10-16T15:58:03Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Yeah, but he grew up in Kenya. Mixed race children don’t have to deal with the same stigma there. But when Obama was born in Hawaii, Congress hadn’t ratified Kenya’s admittance to the Union… er something ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-louisiana-judge-who-is-apparently-stuck-in-a-time-warp/513960/106 "2009-10-16T16:02:19Z")
> [@Nars\_Glinley](#): > > But when Obama was born in Hawaii, Congress hadn’t ratified Kenya’s admittance to the Union… er something No, no, no! When Obama was “born in Hawaii,” his father’s race should have been listed as “Negro” because at that time, Kenyans weren’t Africans yet. [Citation](http://lamecherry.blogspot.com/2008/08/proof-barack-obama-birth-certificate-is.html). ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-louisiana-judge-who-is-apparently-stuck-in-a-time-warp/513960/107 "2009-10-16T16:03:57Z")
> [@flodnak](#): > > Has there ever, in the history of the world, been a sentence that started with “I’m not a racist but” that has failed to expose the speaker as a racist by the end…? :dubious: “I am not a racist, but I like crunchy peanut butter and strawberry jelly on my PB&Js, unlike my whop wife.” Aw damn, so close. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-louisiana-judge-who-is-apparently-stuck-in-a-time-warp/513960/108 "2009-10-16T16:06:19Z")
> [@Scuba\_Ben](#): > > I think I heard the same story – and he quit his position in the IL Legislature partway through a term, and moved out of state. He even dragged his young daughters out of their schools and away from their friends!!!eleventy Sounds like a socialist to me. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-louisiana-judge-who-is-apparently-stuck-in-a-time-warp/513960/109 "2009-10-16T16:13:11Z")
> [@Mollie\_Magill](#): > > “I am not a racist, but I like crunchy peanut butter and strawberry jelly on my PB&Js, unlike my whop wife.” > > Aw damn, so close. You know who else wasn’t a racist? MLK ! Opps, wrong joke. ---
**Author:** ![Redwing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/dfb087/32.png) [@Redwing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Redwing)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-louisiana-judge-who-is-apparently-stuck-in-a-time-warp/513960/110 "2009-10-16T17:07:48Z")
> [@Mollie\_Magill](#): > > “I am not a racist, but I like crunchy peanut butter and strawberry jelly on my PB&Js, unlike my whop wife.” > > Aw damn, so close. I’m not a racist, but I prefer Loudon to Daytona. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-louisiana-judge-who-is-apparently-stuck-in-a-time-warp/513960/111 "2009-10-16T17:12:31Z")
> [@Frostillicus](#): > > I like the tone of this thread. Instead of responding with outrage, we respond with absolute mockery of the utter stupidness of the dumbass involved. Maybe if enough of these idiots are openly laughed at, something might eventually sink in. Chiming in to agree heartily! I’m also warmed by what seems to be the lack of ugliness in the mockery. It’s very heartening. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-louisiana-judge-who-is-apparently-stuck-in-a-time-warp/513960/112 "2009-10-16T17:15:13Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Hence the saying, “once you go black, you never get cystic fibrosis.” Congratulations! You produced the first “snort-out -loud” of the day. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-louisiana-judge-who-is-apparently-stuck-in-a-time-warp/513960/113 "2009-10-16T17:23:47Z")
> [@Laudenum](#): > > **Mighty** what races makes up your kid? > I can’t work it out. I’ve believed for a long time that in another hundred years or so, everyone in the US (the world will be later) will be a sort of latte color, and all recognition of racial difference will be history. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-louisiana-judge-who-is-apparently-stuck-in-a-time-warp/513960/114 "2009-10-16T17:30:27Z")
> [@Mtgman](#): > > Hmm, I wonder. What makes this case different from pharmacists who refuse to fill birth control or morning-after pill scripts? He’s recusing himself from performing the marriage. He’s not ruling on a case of someone else’s marriage, or passing a law which makes it illegal for them to marry, he’s just saying he won’t, personally, sign it. > > I can see a couple differences, one is public, one is private. A Judge/Magistrate/JotP whatever should well know about protected classes and know it will be his job to provide his services without violating these protections. A pharmacist doesn’t take an oath to support a body of laws which includes something which says refusing to fill a script is illegal. > > So what makes refusing to fill a script a matter of personal choice and refusing to sign a marriage certificate a matter of law? Or is there something I’m missing? > > Enjoy, > Steven First thing that pops into my head: this is the “backdoor” path to implementing discrimination “legally”: have all the posts filled by people who have personal beliefs that won’t allow them to perform mixed race marriages. Of course, for it to snowball into a genuinely significant issue, it would require a rather large conspiracy, it’s really more theoretical than anything. But I thought I’d toss it out. ---
**Author:** ![Scuba\_Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Scuba\_Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scuba_Ben)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-louisiana-judge-who-is-apparently-stuck-in-a-time-warp/513960/115 "2009-10-16T18:08:35Z")
> [@Redwing](#): > > I’m not a racist, but I prefer Loudon to Daytona. Trackist!!! The Brickyard is FAR superior. And IndyCar \>\>\>\> NASCAR. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-louisiana-judge-who-is-apparently-stuck-in-a-time-warp/513960/116 "2009-10-16T18:42:42Z")
I say, Bricker? Any other lawyer? Assuming, for the sake of this argument, that this judge is violating the constitutional rights of these two people to get married, what are the possible consequences? Eg, assuming that there _is_ a constitutional right to get married, that a Justice of the Peace has the obligation to carry out marriages, given no valid cause not to, and that the couple being biracial is not a valid cause? ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-louisiana-judge-who-is-apparently-stuck-in-a-time-warp/513960/117 "2009-10-16T18:52:23Z")
> [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](#): > > It just occured to me that marriage is not a constitutional right in the US. Cite? Or is this a whoosh? :dubious: ---
**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 16, 2009, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-louisiana-judge-who-is-apparently-stuck-in-a-time-warp/513960/118 "2009-10-16T19:13:33Z")
> [@Scuba\_Ben](#): > > Trackist!!! > > The Brickyard is FAR superior. And IndyCar \>\>\>\> NASCAR. F1\>IndyCar! > [@](#): > > I say, Bricker? Any other lawyer? Assuming, for the sake of this argument, that this judge is violating the constitutional rights of these two people to get married, what are the possible consequences? What, for the JP? Nothing. He’s an elected official, and as such almost entirely immune from prosecution for actions taken in the course of carrying out the duties of his office (as long as he’s not doing anything _really_ naughty.) He might not get reelected, of course… but then, it’s Louisiana, so he might actually pick up votes. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-louisiana-judge-who-is-apparently-stuck-in-a-time-warp/513960/119 "2009-10-16T19:30:07Z")
Bardwell / Palin 2012! ---
**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 16, 2009, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-louisiana-judge-who-is-apparently-stuck-in-a-time-warp/513960/120 "2009-10-16T19:35:34Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > Congratulations! You produced the first “snort-out -loud” of the day. I try. 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-louisiana-judge-who-is-apparently-stuck-in-a-time-warp/513960.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-louisiana-judge-who-is-apparently-stuck-in-a-time-warp/513960.md?page=7)