The New Mexico Supreme Court yesterday ruled against a county clerk who issued marriage licenses to same-sex couples and helped start a wave of administrative disobedience nationwide.
Sandoval County Clerk Victoria Dunlap asked the court to lift a temporary restraining order preventing her from issuing the licenses, but the justices dismissed the case without comment.
Advertisement - story continues below
"The county clerk was asking the court to let her break the law. She simply had no authority to petition the court to have the restraining order lifted," said Kevin Theriot, a Kansas City-based attorney for the Alliance Defense Fund, which wrote a friend-of-the-court brief on behalf of the Family Research Council, which brought the case.
"In addition to violating the law, the clerk has been determined to disregard the fact that opposite-sex marriage is a uniquely beneficial arrangement, providing equity and security for individuals, family and society," he added.
TRENDING: May the Farce be with you
As WorldNetDaily reported, Dunlap issued dozens of same-sex "marriage" licenses Feb. 20 before New Mexico Attorney General Patricia Madrid obtained a temporary restraining order and halted her. When Dunlap's move to have the order lifted was denied, she appealed to the New Mexico Supreme Court.
"The temporary restraining order was issued against the county clerk for good reason," Theriot said. "She was attempting to act as a law unto herself instead of respecting the rule of law and the will of the people in New Mexico. We are glad the court dismissed her case."
Advertisement - story continues below
ADF is America's largest legal alliance defending religious liberty through strategy, training, funding and litigation.
Related story:
Same-sex 'marriages' spread to Southwest
