Crazy in Alabama: Judicial Process and the Last Stand Against Marriage Equality in the Land of George Wallace

Abstract

This essay examines the ongoing litigation battle in Alabama over the constitutionality of its ban on same-sex marriage, where one district judge invalidated the state ban and subsequent confusion over the meaning and scope of that injunction has drawn unfortunate and erroneous comparisons to George Wallace and Massive Resistance to integration. In fact, this essay argues, the controversy in Alabama is about judicial procedure and the scope of injunctive relief in constitutional litigation; it reveals how judicial decision making and judicial remedies actually function in a geographically divided and hierarchical federal judiciary. Rhetoric aside, the judicial process in Alabama has functioned largely as it should.

Keywords: Equal Protection, Due Process, Judicial process, Injunctions, Civil Rights, Marriage, Injunctions, LGBT