Justice Kennedy To Kim Davis And Other Government Officials Denying Marriage Equality: Resign
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court Anthony Kennedy is speaking out against government officials denying marriage equality on religious or moral grounds.
During a stop yesterday at his alma mater, Harvard Law School, Kennedy was asked about the duty of public officials outside the judiciary—specifically if any state or federal officials had the authority "to act according to her own judgment of the truth of new insights or the soundness of the court's constitutional interpretation."
“Great respect, it seems to me, has to be given to people who resign rather than do something they view as morally wrong, in order to make a point,” said Justice Kennedy, mentioning no one by name (*cough* Kim Davis *cough*).
"However, the rule of law is that, as a public official performing your legal duties, you are bound to enforce the law," he continued.
"It's difficult sometimes to see whether or not what you're doing is transgressing your own personal philosophy... This requires considerable introspection. It's a fair question that officials can and should ask themselves, but certainly it would be difficult for me to say that people are free to ignore a decision made by the Supreme Court. These are difficult moral questions."
Watch the video below beginning at the 51:50 mark, below
