Alabama lawyer files suit against 5 SCOTUS justices who OK'd same-sex marriage
An Alabama lawyer filed a federal lawsuit last week against five U.S. Supreme Court justices who OK’d the majority opinion in a 2015 decision finding that same-sex marriage is a constitutionally protected right.
Austin Burdick, who says his practice focuses on protecting constitutional rights of U.S. citizens, seeks a declaratory judgment that the Obergefell v. Hodges ruling violates the U.S. Constitution and $6 million in damages, plus attorney’s fees and costs. He asserts causes of action including breach of contract or oath and breach of fiduciary duty. A copy of the Wednesday complaint in the Birmingham case can be viewed on Scribd.
Calling the decision “an abandonment of the U.S. Constitution,” because it allegedly conflicts with a plain-language reading of the 14th Amendment’s guarantee of individual liberty, Burdick says even judges of the nation’s top court can be held accountable for such a claimed breach of their duties.
“This nation is a nation of laws and not of men. No one is above the law,” he writes. “The only authority that the defendants enjoy is that which has been granted them by the Constitution. Their authority is inferior to that of the Constitution. They have no authority to alter the Constitution. The power to alter the Constitution is restricted to the amendment process set forth therein.”
An AL.com story about the lawsuit does not include any comment from the defendants.
