Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy
S. Moore is calling on two Supreme Court justices to recuse
themselves from an upcoming case challenging gay marriage bans.
The high court has agreed to hear cases
challenging bans in four states: Ohio, Tennessee, Michigan and
Kentucky. The court consolidated the cases and scheduled oral
arguments for April 28, with a decision expected in June.
Moore told AL.com
on Thursday that Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Elena Kagan should
removed themselves from the case because each has married gay
couples.
“Their actions speak louder than
their words,” Moore said.
Moore is an outspoken opponent of
marriage equality. He attempted to block a federal judge's ruling
declaring unconstitutional Alabama's ban by ordering probate judges
to ignore the ruling. A majority of judges initially followed
Moore's directions but most later reversed course. Moore has also
said that he would not follow a Supreme Court order invalidating
restrictive state marriage bans.
(Related: Roy
Moore says he won't follow a Supreme Court order invalidating state
gay marriage bans.)
On Tuesday, the
Alabama Supreme Court ordered probate judges to stop issuing such
licenses.
Moore is the latest conservative to
call for Kagan and Ginsburg to recuse themselves in the case.
However, like those before him, Moore is not asking conservative
justices to step down. Justice Antonin Scalia has made his
opposition clear. In 2013, Scalia told a group of lawyers that there
is no right to “homosexual conduct” in the United States
Constitution. Also, if marrying couples is the yardstick by which we
measure impartiality, then we should note that Justice Clarence
Thomas officiated at the wedding of conservative commentator Rush
Limbaugh and Marta Maranda Fitzgerald. The marriage lasted a decade.
In 2010, Limbaugh married his fourth wife, Kathryn Rogers.