BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - A Louisiana justice of the peace who
refused to marry a couple because the bride was white and groom was
black resigned Tuesday.
Keith Bardwell, who is white, quit the post with a one-sentence
statement to Louisiana Secretary of State Jay Dardenne and no
explanation of his decision: "I do hereby resign the office of
Justice of the Peace for the Eighth Ward of Tangipahoa Parish,
Louisiana, effective November 3, 2009."
Bardwell refused to perform the ceremony for Beth Humphrey and
Terence McKay because they are of different races.
When questioned about his refusal, Bardwell acknowledged he
routinely recuses himself from marrying interracial couples because
he believes such marriages cause harm to the couples' children. In
interviews, he said he refers such couples to other justices of the
peace, who then perform the ceremony, which happened in this case.
Humphrey has said she and McKay received their marriage license
from the parish clerk of court, where they also received a list of
people qualified to perform the ceremony. When she called
Bardwell's office to ask about the ceremony on Oct. 6, Humphrey
said Bardwell's wife told her that the justice wouldn't sign their
marriage license because they were a "mixed couple."
Bardwell didn't immediately return a call for comment Tuesday
about his resignation, which followed calls for his ouster from
several public officials, including Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and
U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu.
Humphrey and McKay have filed a federal civil rights lawsuit
against Bardwell.
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
