Interracial Couple Denied Marriage License By Louisiana Judge

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hoppyfrog

hoppyfrog

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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/15/interracial-couple-denied_n_322784.html

15 Oct 09

A Louisiana justice of the peace said he refused to issue a marriage license to an interracial couple out of concern for any children the couple might have.

Keith Bardwell, justice of the peace in Tangipahoa Parish, says it is his experience that most interracial marriages do not last long.

​


more at link

:furious::furious::furious::furious:
 
What year is this?

And he better check his facts cause at present most marriages don't last long regardless of race/ethnicity.

Ugh, you can't fix stupid.
 
The JP broke the law correct?

Remove him from office first, sanction him or file a discrimination suit against him, the suit just to make a point. JMHO.
 
This judge seems to be on a power trip. Isn't the President of mixed race with a black dad and a white Mom.

Good thing that he did not prevent that marriage from happening.......

If it was me, I would head over to a lawyer.......
 
Louisiana's miscegenation laws were overturned in 1967 by virtue of a Supreme Court ruling and not be virtue of the State's desire. As we know, the South struggled to come round to thinking that it was okay for blacks and whites to marry.

From Wikipedia: "In 1967, 17 Southern states (all the former slave states plus Oklahoma) still enforced laws prohibiting marriage between whites and people of color. Maryland repealed its law in response to the start of the proceedings at the Supreme Court. After the ruling of the Supreme Court, the remaining laws were no longer in effect. Nonetheless, it took South Carolina until 1998 and Alabama until 2000 to officially amend their states' constitutions to remove language prohibiting miscegenation."

Obviously, some Southerners are stilling struggling.
 
This is in fact against the law-so this thread could go to Crimes in the News.

Mighty nice of this JP to be looking out for the children...EXCEPT it would be far more relevant if he took into consideration statistics on marriage across all races and socio-economic levels...he would then have to give up his job completely.

Yeah-tell me this was not bigotry.
 
ok this just stoopid.

i live in tangipahoa parish. dunno who this "judge" thinks he is, but i dont think a justice of the peace is considered a judge?

there are interracial couples all over this parish, just like everyplace else. most of us got better sense than this :( :( :(
 
CyberLaw said:
This judge seems to be on a power trip. Isn't the President of mixed race with a black dad and a white Mom.

Good thing that he did not prevent that marriage from happening.......

If it was me, I would head over to a lawyer.......
Click to expand...

A Justice of the Peace (my father is one) is not a Judge - though they are court officers with limited powers (kind of like a notary public).

I don't know if a law was broken. The main power a Justice of the Peace has is to marry people. Seems to me that they could choose to perform or not perform a civil marriage ceremony for any reason they like.
 
That JP makes me sick! It's bigots like this that make things hard for a family like mine. It is maddening that people still feel this way when it is almost 2010! My son liked a girl at school who told him that she liked him to but they couldn't be BF/GF because her parents would never approve of her dating a mixed boy.
 
He refused to issue a marriage license, to a racially mixed couple.

Where do I start, civil rights, legal rights, discrimination......all violations there of.
 
CyberLaw said:
This judge seems to be on a power trip. Isn't the President of mixed race with a black dad and a white Mom.

Good thing that he did not prevent that marriage from happening.......

If it was me, I would head over to a lawyer.......
Click to expand...

But then, how many times have we heard from some people the phrase: 'He's not MY president.' I doubt this guy views Mr Obama as anything desirable.
I shall now sit down and be quiet.
 
This actually doesn't shock me. I live in the midwest and you still see this crap sprinkled around.
 
southcitymom said:
A Justice of the Peace (my father is one) is not a Judge - though they are court officers with limited powers (kind of like a notary public).

I don't know if a law was broken. The main power a Justice of the Peace has is to marry people. Seems to me that they could choose to perform or not perform a civil marriage ceremony for any reason they like.
Click to expand...

CyberLaw said:
He refused to issue a marriage license, to a racially mixed couple.

Where do I start, civil rights, legal rights, discrimination......all violations there of.
Click to expand...

What Cyberlaw said.

My favorite part of the article;

"I'm not a racist. I just don't believe in mixing the races that way," Bardwell told the Associated Press on Thursday. "I have piles and piles of black friends. They come to my home, I marry them, they use my bathroom. I treat them just like everyone else."

Bardwell said he asks everyone who calls about marriage if they are a mixed race couple. If they are, he does not marry them, he said.

 
Steely Dan said:
What Cyberlaw said.

My favorite part of the article;

"I'm not a racist. I just don't believe in mixing the races that way," Bardwell told the Associated Press on Thursday. "I have piles and piles of black friends. They come to my home, I marry them, they use my bathroom. I treat them just like everyone else."

Bardwell said he asks everyone who calls about marriage if they are a mixed race couple. If they are, he does not marry them, he said.

Click to expand...

This guy is one strange puppy. Sadly he's not untypical of the attitudes a lot of folks have.
He has no business IMO being a Justice of the Peace if he is selective in his duties and needs to be relieved of them. If he wants to continue marrying people he can get one of those $50 ordainations from some internet church.
So he lets his black friends use his toilet? Well I guess considering that's progress.
 
Snick1946 said:
This guy is one strange puppy. Sadly he's not untypical of the attitudes a lot of folks have.
He has no business IMO being a Justice of the Peace if he is selective in his duties and needs to be relieved of them. If he wants to continue marrying people he can get one of those $50 ordainations from some internet church.
So he lets his black friends use his toilet? Well I guess considering that's progress.
Click to expand...

I wonder if he lets them enter through the front door? :loser:
 
Good lord! What century is it?

Truly though, this is scary. But sadly, not surprising at all.
 
He let's them use his toilet? LOL

That kind of reminds me of when I posted pictures of my kids on here and someone gave me a compliment saying, "Oh my gosh they are so clean!" :waitasec:
 
I live in this parish also, and this is very discouraging. Thankfully, not all of us feel that way. I have many black friends, neighbors, co-workers, and to me they are the same as I am. Why should skin color make them different? I don't know this JP, but I will be really, really happy to campaign to vote him out of office if he doesn't resign first.

What a setback for civil rights. I'm going to go out on a limb and guess he's also a conservative Republican who gets up-in-arms about the illegitemate birth rate amongst minorities also. And yet he would deny a couple this basic right. (Sigh)
 
akashana said:
I live in this parish also, and this is very discouraging. Thankfully, not all of us feel that way. I have many black friends, neighbors, co-workers, and to me they are the same as I am. Why should skin color make them different? I don't know this JP, but I will be really, really happy to campaign to vote him out of office if he doesn't resign first.

What a setback for civil rights. I'm going to go out on a limb and guess he's also a conservative Republican who gets up-in-arms about the illegitemate birth rate amongst minorities also. And yet he would deny a couple this basic right. (Sigh)
Click to expand...



According to the link, he has served as both a Democrat and a Republican. More recently a Republican, although the bulk of his career was as a Democrat. http://www400.sos.louisiana.gov/cgibin?rqstyp=comh1&rqsdta=26510100

Either way, your willingness to "go out on a limb" and stereotype conservatives and Republicans is incredibly offensive and not all that different from the way this judge behaved.

IMO
 
I am sorry that you are incredibly offended, but I live here and know well the local political climate. I get offensive remarks made to me all the time about my Obama bumper sticker. Strangers feel compelled to make negative comments about it all the time. At the last election when Louisiana voters went to the polls regarding same sex marriages, the poll workers made sure to tell every prospective voter at the precinct where I voted to vote against it, as the wording was rather oblique and they thought some might not understand. This is an extremely conservative parish where some local physicians refuse to prescribe birth control to their patients. There are very few Democrats in office; only the old warhorses remain. People here won't elect them, simple as that. Incidentally, almost all of my friends vote Republican; I am definitely in the minority.

Sometimes it helps to have a bit thicker skin.
 
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