Interracial Newlyweds Derailed In Dixie

[WSJ_law_blog]

Beth Humphrey of Hammond, La., must have been in a good mood. Her wedding day was behind her and all she had to do was make it official by getting the marriage license signed.

The process turned out to be more difficult than she had planned. Keith Bardwell, the local justice of the peace, has a personal policy that he will not license interracial marriages. Humphrey, a white account manager at a marketing firm, married Terrence McKay, a welder who is black. Bardwell’s worldview has touched off some legal problems. Here’s an AP story.

Quickly, let’s get Bardwell’s side of the story. The longtime justice of the peace says he’s not prejudiced. “I’m not a racist. I just don’t believe in mixing the races that way,” Bardwell told the AP. “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.”

Instead, he sees his actions as helpful. He says experience has shown him that interracial children have led unnecessarily difficult lives because of the position their parents have put them in. “I think those children suffer and I won’t help put them through it,” he says.

Bardwell says he asks every couple whether they are interracial, and if they reply by saying yes, he rejects their requests and asks them to find another justice of the peace official who will agree to sign the paperwork. He guessed that he’d turned down four such couples in the last few years.

Upon hearing Humphrey’s story, the ACLU sent a letter to the Louisiana Judiciary Committee, asking them to look into Bardwell’s actions. The ACLU suggested levying “the most severe sanctions available.”

The newlyweds, who later got their marriage license signed by another justice of the peace, say they will consult the Justice Department about filing a discrimination complaint.

The Supreme Court in 1967 unanimously struck down on all race-based restrictions on marriage. Here’s a link to the fittingly-named Loving v. Virginia.

Photo: Getty Images

Fire that JP!