A state judge can certainly decide issues of federal import, and this judge did, in fact, find that the state constitutional provision was invalid because it conflicted with the federal constitution. There’s nothing stopping him from reaching that conclusion – it just means that the decision will be reviewable by the US Supreme Court as well as the state court system. State courts are certainly empowered to decide questions of federal law, but ultimately a state court must yield to the federal courts’ determination of federal law.
Federal > state constitution. Go back to the US Constitution and read the supremacy clause which states:
This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof; and all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land; and the judges in every state shall be bound thereby, anything in the constitution or laws of any state to the contrary notwithstanding.
Interesting. IANAL so, its helpful getting more informed answers. Thank you for the clarification.
He ruled that the amendment to the Arkansas state constitution violated the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution. States can make their own laws that differ from federal law, but they can’t make laws that violate the U.S. Constitution. Here’s a link to the ruling.
Constitutional ninjas away!
Court ruling just a few hours ago.
Channel 7 had a legal expert come on live to explain the ruling. The Court refused the stay because the original judge’s order was incomplete. That order didn’t address all the laws that effect same sex marriage.
So, it bounces back to the circuit judge for clarification. Same Sex Marriage licenses probably won’t be issued (again) until the circuit judge acts. Then it will probably bounce back to the State Supreme Court.
It’s going to take awhile to litigate this.
I’ll post a link if channel 7 posts the video of this interview.
I’m torn. Yay for the gays, boo for Arkansas being more progressive than my state.
I hope they don’t resort to sex before marriage.
Video analysis of this complex issue.
There is a law directly forbidding Circuit Clerks from issuing Same Sex marriage licenses. That’s why most Clerks in Arkansas haven’t done so since the judges order last week. They don’t want to be held responsible for violating this separate law.
Eventually, this will all get sorted out. But for now the status of the people that married in the past few days is uncertain.
Bolding is mine.
That was wrong of him. He’s a state circuit judge. He knows the law’s constitutionality must be ultimately decided by a higher court.
Ran out of edit time:
Some people on this board, and elsewhere, have speculated that this was part of a conscious strategy – by refusing to stay his ruling, he created a period of time in which marriage licenses were issued. This will make it more difficult to decide that same-sex marriage is illegal: what’s to be done about the couples that were granted licenses?
If this was his motivation, it’s an improper one. A judge should not be invested in changing the law. His job as a judge should be to rule on what the law is. I assume that his decision that the prohibition on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional is the result of his honest weighing of the law. But if his refusal to stay his ruling was the result of an effort to lock in his decision, that’s advocacy that goes bwyond what a judge’s role should be.
Any idea what kind of time period there will be before the state Supreme Court is likely to hear and then render a decision? And then how long it will be before it’s taken to the 8th circuit court of appeals?