Keith Bardwell, justice of the peace in Tangipahoa Parish, LA, refused to issue a marriage license to an interracial couple "out of concern for any children the couple might have."
Tell Justice Bardwell that our concern is for the civil rights of Beth Humphrey and Terence McKay and that racial discrimination is neither welcome nor legal in Louisiana or anywhere else in the United States.
We the undersigned request an apology on behalf of Hammond residents Beth Humphrey and Terence McKay who were denied a marriage license by you, Justice Bardwell, because they are an interracial couple.
As you told the AP this week, "I'm not a racist. I just don't believe in mixing the races that way."
That sounds like racism to us.
If you need a reminder, Justice Bardwell, interracial marriage in the United States has been fully legal in all U.S. states since the 1967 Supreme Court decision that deemed anti-miscegenation laws unconstitutional. The decision handed down in Loving vs. Virginia (1967) states, "There can be no doubt that restricting the freedom to marry solely because of racial classifications violates the central meaning of the equal protection clause."
As a Justice of the Peace, it is your job to uphold the law for all citizens, including those that may not fall under your own banner of acceptability.
We ask that you, Justice Bardwell, issue an apology to Ms. Humphrey and Mr. McKay and also that you, under the supervision of President Burgess and State of LA Attorney General Buddy Caldwell, review United States history, focusing on the latter part of the 20th century and including Civil Rights law.
We thank you for taking the time to read this petition and to do the right thing for the citizens of Louisiana and of our great country.
