Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood sees the Supreme Court's ruling on Marriage Equality as his opportunity to do some political grandstanding to Christian conservatives. Hood has halted same sex marriages in Mississippi citing a legal technicality.
Jim Hood
Mississippi in limbo over high-court's same-sex marriage ruling
By Tina Susman and Maria L. La Ganga
Only three same-sex couples were able to wed before the state’s attorney general ordered court clerks to stop issuing them marriage licenses. It was the first of what is expected to be many twists and turns as Mississippi digs in its heels against Friday’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling legalizing such unions.
Although the high court declared same-sex marriage a constitutional right in all 50 states, Mississippi Atty. Gen. Jim Hood said the state would wait for the local federal appeals court to lift a stay before it began issuing licenses to same-sex couples.
“The Supreme Court’s decision is not immediately effective in Mississippi. It will become effective in Mississippi, and circuit clerks will be required to issue same-sex marriage licenses, when the 5th Circuit lifts the stay,” Hood said.
Nobody knows when that might happen. In the meantime, Mississippi court clerks were left in limbo, along with eager couples who began showing up at their offices Friday.