Friday October 16, 2009, 7:58 am
Yeah this is Bullcockey...Since when can and will a JUDGE discrimnate against the human population??? He has NO right to do this. He needs to be slapped around a bit to knock some sense into him...LOVE KNOWS NO COLOR FOLKS GET OVER IT!!!!!

Big gorilly Hugs

Friday October 16, 2009, 7:58 am
Or race i meant to say race toooo...see what happens when i get pissed...LOL

Gorilly

Friday October 16, 2009, 8:04 am

By MARY FOSTER, Associated Press Writer Mary Foster, Associated Press Writer – Fri Oct 16, 4:50 am ET

NEW ORLEANS – A white 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.

"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.

Bardwell said he has discussed the topic with blacks and whites, along with witnessing some interracial marriages. He came to the conclusion that most of black society does not readily accept offspring of such relationships, and neither does white society, he said.

"There is a problem with both groups accepting a child from such a marriage," Bardwell said. "I think those children suffer and I won't help put them through it."

If he did an interracial marriage for one couple, he must do the same for all, he said.

"I try to treat everyone equally," he said.

Bardwell estimates that he has refused to marry about four couples during his career, all in the past 2 1/2 years.

Beth Humphrey, 30, and 32-year-old Terence McKay, both of Hammond, say they will consult the U.S. Justice Department about filing a discrimination complaint.

Humphrey, an account manager for a marketing firm, said she and McKay, a welder, just returned to Louisiana. She is white and he is black. She plans to enroll in the University of New Orleans to pursue a masters degree in minority politics.

"That was one thing that made this so unbelievable," she said. "It's not something you expect in this day and age."

Humphrey said she called Bardwell on Oct. 6 to inquire about getting a marriage license signed. She says Bardwell's wife told her that Bardwell will not sign marriage licenses for interracial couples. Bardwell suggested the couple go to another justice of the peace in the parish who agreed to marry them.

"We are looking forward to having children," Humphrey said. "And all our friends and co-workers have been very supportive. Except for this, we're typical happy newlyweds."

"It is really astonishing and disappointing to see this come up in 2009," said American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana attorney Katie Schwartzmann. She said the Supreme Court ruled in 1967 "that the government cannot tell people who they can and cannot marry."

The ACLU sent a letter to the Louisiana Judiciary Committee, which oversees the state justices of the peace, asking them to investigate Bardwell and recommending "the most severe sanctions available, because such blatant bigotry poses a substantial threat of serious harm to the administration of justice."

"He knew he was breaking the law, but continued to do it," Schwartzmann said.

According to the clerk of court's office, application for a marriage license must be made three days before the ceremony because there is a 72-hour waiting period. The applicants are asked if they have previously been married. If so, they must show how the marriage ended, such as divorce.

Other than that, all they need is a birth certificate and Social Security card.

The license fee is $35, and the license must be signed by a Louisiana minister, justice of the peace or judge. The original is returned to the clerk's office.

"I've been a justice of the peace for 34 years and I don't think I've mistreated anybody," Bardwell said. "I've made some mistakes, but you have too. I didn't tell this couple they couldn't get married. I just told them I wouldn't do it."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091016/ap_on_re_us/us_interracial_rebuff

Friday October 16, 2009, 8:14 am

Our Justice System is supposed to be...
"For the People."

Notice there is no color in front of the word "People."

Such Blatant disregard for our People, Constitution, and Laws.

HUGZ ~ Electra

Friday October 16, 2009, 8:16 am
"I'm not a racist. I just don't believe in mixing the races that way,"

NOONE GAVE HIM THAT RIGHT TO MAKE THAT KIND OF DECISION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Friday October 16, 2009, 8:22 am
I think you got it right, love knows no color. You can not help who you fall in love with and this is discriminatory actions at their worst. How many people has this man gotten away with not marrying because he isn't accepting of 2 different colored human beings being married and having children..

My husband and I are both mixed race. This is a reminder of how my family reacted and how my own mother was not even able to see her mixed race grandchildren for years, because of this same type of bigotry. We want all people to have the same rights as any other person in this country. We talk about wanting to allow gay people to marry, but we see it is just as hard for some of the straight folks to get married.. We all need to fight together, so this kind of thing is put to a stop. If your happy and wish to be married, you should be allowed, no matter the color of your skin or sexuality!

Friday October 16, 2009, 8:24 am
Gorilly applauding Boty girl...

Big Gorilly Hugs

Friday October 16, 2009, 8:26 am
If you have time, here is this fools info..

Keith Bardwell
Justice of the Peace
23288 Bardwell Road
Ponchatoula, LA 70454
1-(985)- 542-1732

Friday October 16, 2009, 9:35 am
Unbelievable in 2009!!!

P.S. real cute kids and dog!

Friday October 16, 2009, 10:07 am
somehow i think that this man is not following the constitution and that some group with the where-with-all could have him thrown out of his office. and when i think about it, i believe this is bound to happen.

From Wikipedia:

All bans on interracial marriage were lifted only after an interracial couple from Virginia, Richard and Mildred Loving, began a legal battle in 1963 for the repeal of the anti-miscegenation law which prevented them from living as a couple in their home state of Virginia. The Lovings were supported by the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, the Japanese American Citizens League and a coalition of Catholic bishops.

In 1958, Richard and Mildred Loving had married in Washington, D.C. to evade Virginia's anti-miscegenation law (the Racial Integrity Act). Having returned to Virginia, they were arrested in their bedroom for living together as an interracial couple. The judge suspended their sentence on the condition that the Lovings would leave Virginia and not return for 25 years. In 1963, the Lovings, who had moved to Washington, D.C, decided to appeal this judgment. In 1965, Virginia trial court Judge Leon Bazile, who heard their original case, refused to reconsider his decision. Instead, he defended racial segregation, writing:

"Almighty God created the races white, black, yellow, and red, and he placed them on separate continents. And but for the interference with his arrangement there would be no cause for such marriages. The fact that he separated the races shows that he did not intend for the races to mix."[23]

The Lovings then took their case to the Supreme Court of Virginia, which invalidated the original sentence but upheld the state's Racial Integrity Act. Finally, the Lovings turned to the U.S Supreme Court. The court, which had previously avoided taking miscegenation cases, agreed to hear an appeal. In 1967, 84 years after Pace v. Alabama in 1883, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously in Loving v. Virginia that:

"Marriage is one of the 'basic civil rights of man,' fundamental to our very existence and survival.... To deny this fundamental freedom on so unsupportable a basis as the racial classifications embodied in these statutes, classifications so directly subversive of the principle of equality at the heart of the Fourteenth Amendment, is surely to deprive all the State's citizens of liberty without due process of law. The Fourteenth Amendment requires that the freedom of choice to marry not be restricted by invidious racial discriminations. Under our Constitution, the freedom to marry, or not to marry, a person of another race resides with the individual and cannot be infringed by the State."

The Supreme Court condemned Virginia's anti-miscegenation law as "designed to maintain White supremacy".

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. In the respective referendums, 62% of voters in South Carolina and 59% of voters in Alabama voted to remove these laws.[24]

Friday October 16, 2009, 10:47 am
HOW K, Thank you very much for posting that great factual info!

If we have people who refuse two heterosexuals to be we. How dose anyone of us expect the country to go along with homosexual marriages???

Friday October 16, 2009, 12:56 pm
This judge needs to be removed.What gives him the right to say who can get married and who can't. Same race marriages are just as likely to end in divorice as mixed marriages are. For that matter since about 1 out of 2 marriages now ends in divorice,why even marry any couple at all?

Friday October 16, 2009, 1:01 pm
While I find this to be Outrageous; even more Outrageous is that S Carolina & Alabama took till 98 & 2000 to remove these Laws By only a 62% & 59% vote.
..Sure Are ALOT of Unrepentant BIGOTS LEFT Down There..

Friday October 16, 2009, 1:26 pm
this is outrages thanks Peggy

Friday October 16, 2009, 1:39 pm
I am in an interacial marriage and here in California, no one even blinks... It is a shame that racism and hate are still rampant in America... It is not just hate for race, but the hate surrounding political affiliation is on fire in America and is quite disturbing to see... What most of the haters of political lean don't realize or see in themselves is that it is just as bad if not worse than "Hate of Race"...
Let's stop the hate all the way around shall we?
Peace

Friday October 16, 2009, 3:34 pm
Racist Non Sense!!! You have to feel sad for people who are racists simply because they are sad people - have no wisdom and are certainly far from the path of wisdom and ever will be!!! Brightest Blessings

Saturday October 17, 2009, 5:10 am
Sad to see that truth isn't it Rod? I know how you feel, I said the same...

Thank you all for noting this story, I am happy to have so many noting and commenting, for like Corkie, this is a bit hitting home. I wished I lived in a state that allowed us to walk hand and hand with our children down the street, but sadly, in my case that isn't such.

There have been times where I would literally have to ask the man or woman, what they were staring at when walking together as a family, down our own streets, here in South Philly.

Saturday October 17, 2009, 6:36 am
Here is the update to this story....

http://www.care2.com/news/member/711180351/1278390

Monday October 19, 2009, 1:36 am
Peggy..No one should have to help who they choose to love..be it an interracial or gay couple..I never will understand why some people are so bothered by what others do and choose in their lives....It is ignorance and hate and indeed it is discrimination..

That man is a real jerk..and I hope he gets fired..

Monday October 19, 2009, 10:05 am
There’s no doubt that Bardwell should be out of office. I would call him a Neanderthal, but there’s no evidence that Neanderthals were bigots.

That said, let’s note that Bardwell kept nobody from marrying. As he noted, there are other JPs who will perform the ceremony with no problem.

Tuesday October 20, 2009, 12:23 am
It''s really great...

Saturday October 24, 2009, 5:24 pm
Hopefully the judge has been removed from the bench!
Sadly the south is not the only place that racism still resides. Stupidity doesn't discriminate by geography.
This kind of behavior from anyone be a judge or a simple man should never be acceptable by our society. It is an outrage!