Louisiana Justice Would Ignore U.S. Supreme Court Same-Sex Marriage Ruling
"The most troubling prospect of same sex marriage is the adoption by same sex partners of a young child of the same sex," Louisiana Supreme Court Justice Jefferson Hughes writes.
On Tuesday, the Louisiana Supreme Court dismissed as moot a pending case about the rights of a same-sex couple married out of state because, the court ruled, the U.S. Supreme Court decision on marriage and marriage recognition "resolved" the matter:
The decision means that the California marriage of Angela Marie Costanza and Chastity Shanelle Brewer is to be respected in Louisiana, including for purposes of second-parent adoption.
But one of the seven justices on the court disagreed. Meet Justice Jefferson D. Hughes III.
Hughes disagreed that the U.S. Supreme Court resolved the issue, calling adoption "of a young child of the same sex" by same-sex couples "[t]he most troubling prospect" of marriage equality:
Hughes — only elected to the supreme court in 2012 — caused a bit of a commotion with his dissenting opinion. Among the strongest responses came from Justice Greg Guidry:
At the other extreme, even Justice Jeannette Theriot Knoll — who wrote the court's decision upholding the state's marriage ban a decade ago — acknowledged she was "constrained to follow" the U.S. Supreme Court ruling:
Others, including Justice John Weimer, weighed in as well — taking aim at the perceived bias expressed in Hughes's opinion:
Justice Scott Crichton simply noted his agreement with Justice Guidry:
Neither Chief Justice Bernette Johnson nor Justice Marcus Clark weighed in with any written opinion on the matter.
