GRAHAM — Despite a memo from the state office overseeing the courts stating that all magistrates must officiate same-sex marriages or face disciplinary action and possible criminal charges, the judge supervising Alamance County magistrates still hopes magistrates with religious objections won’t have to perform those ceremonies.
The compromise that Chief District Court Judge Jim Roberson describes is a system that allows magistrates with religious objections to sit out performing same-sex marriages and allow magistrates without objections to perform those ceremonies.
“I highly respect people’s legitimate, deep-seated, consciously held religious beliefs. I also highly respect people’s individual rights. Trying to balance those two is where my goal is right now,” Roberson said Wednesday, “finding that balance where we can assure the public the law will be followed and marriage ceremonies will be performed as requested.”
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But an Administrative Office of the Court memo released Tuesday to all North Carolina magistrates, judges and Superior Court clerks says that refusing to perform a same-sex marriage “violates the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution.” Refusing to perform the weddings on any grounds is thus a willful violation of a magistrate’s oath and duty to uphold the U.S. Constitution, it states.
“If a valid marriage license … is presented, it is a statutory duty of the magistrate to conduct the marriage between the persons named in the license in the same manner as the magistrate would conduct any other marriage. A failure to do so would be a violation of the U.S. Constitution under the federal ruling, and would constitute a violation of the oath and a failure to perform a duty of the office.”
The memo was released Tuesday, the day after same-sex couples in North Carolina were first able to apply for marriage licenses after a federal judge overturned a state ban on same-sex marriages Friday night.
Questions and conflicts at magistrates’ offices across the state led to the AOC sending guidance statements to court offices and magistrate judges throughout the week.
At least one North Carolina magistrate has already refused to perform same-sex ceremonies. In Elizabeth City, a magistrate refused to perform a marriage for a male couple Monday. Another magistrate married them Tuesday. The magistrate who refused to perform the ceremony likely won’t face disciplinary action because the couple decided not to file a formal complaint against him, The Daily Advance reported Wednesday.
Roberson has been out of town since Tuesday morning and returned to Alamance County late Wednesday afternoon. He said he’d received the AOC’s memos and also been in contact with other chief District Court judges while away. Roberson said he wants to speak directly to AOC Director Judge John Smith but hadn’t yet had that opportunity.
“This is a matter of great substance. It is not a matter to be taken lightly,” Roberson said. “I want you to know that we do respect the power of a person’s true religious beliefs and the power of a person’s true individual rights to be respected.”
AOC’S MEMO Tuesday outlines the duties of magistrates, restates the oath they swear before entering into office, and quotes canons of judicial conduct.
“For these reasons, all magistrates must treat same-sex marriages for which a marriage license has been issued by the Register of Deeds the same way that marriages between a man and a woman are scheduled and conducted,” the memo states.
In a series of questions and answers, it states that magistrates cannot refuse to perform same-sex marriages.
“Question 3: Does the reason the magistrate refuses to perform the marriage change the matter?
“Answer: No.”
Under that advisement, all magistrates must perform same-sex marriages or they could face suspension, termination or the misdemeanor criminal charge of willfully refusing to discharge the duties of their office.
“If a magistrate refuses to discharge the duties of his or her office, including a refusal to perform a marriage of a same-sex couple, that refusal is grounds for suspension or removal from office, as well as potential criminal charges,” the memo states. “If any magistrate ‘shall willfully omit, neglect or refuse to discharge any of the duties of his office … he shall be guilty of a class 1 misdemeanor.’”
ON MONDAY, Alamance County Register of Deeds Hugh Webster said one magistrate had indicated a refusal to perform same-sex marriages and expected to be out of the job because of that.
“Magistrates should begin immediately conducting marriages of all couples presenting a marriage license issued by the Register of Deeds. No further authorization or instructions are necessary. Under the recent federal ruling, we can assure our magistrates that they are authorized to conduct those marriages of same-sex couples under the existing statutory authority they possess,” the earlier memo said.
A memo, sent Monday by the AOC, advised magistrates not to delay performing same-sex marriage ceremonies.
Tuesday’s memo also stated that a magistrate received a threatening call from a citizen regarding performing a same-sex marriage. The AOC advised magistrates to report any threats to law enforcement. Threatening a magistrate is a felony.