Associated Press
Date: 04/05/2016 08:05 PM
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) – The Latest on Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant signing a bill law that allows religious groups and some private employers to refuse service to gay couples based on religious beliefs (all times local):
Mississippi’s governor has signed a law that allows public and private businesses to refuse service to gay couples based on the employers’ religious beliefs.
Gov. Phil Bryant signed House Bill 1523 on Tuesday, despite opposition from gay-rights groups and some businesses. Some conservative and religious groups support the bill.
The measure’s intention is to protect those who believe that marriage should be between one man and one woman, that sexual relations should only take place inside such marriages, and that male and female genders are unchangeable.
The law allows churches, religious charities and privately held businesses to decline services to people violating those beliefs. Individual government employees may also opt out, although the measure says governments must still provide services.
Other states have considered similar legislation.
Mississippi’s Attorney General Jim Hood says in a statement that House Bill 1523 does not override federal law or constitutional rights.
He says that if someone violates a federal statue or constitutional provision, the bill won’t protect that person from a federal lawsuit or personal liability under federal law.
Seven legal experts from Mississippi and beyond say the state’s new religious-objections law is unconstitutional.
Law professors at the University of Mississippi, Mississippi College, Washington University in St. Louis and Columbia University in New York City say in a joint statement that the law violates freedom of religion.
They say the law contradicts the religious freedom granted by the First Amendment by allowing religious exemptions that would harm the rights of others – lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Mississippians, in particular.
They say the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment forbids the government from singling out any particular religion or belief to favor or disfavor.
