SC 532

MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2026 Regular Session
To: Rules
By: Senator(s) Chism
Senate
Concurrent Resolution 532
A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION CALLING UPON THE SUPREME COURT OF
THE UNITED STATES TO OVERTURN THE OBERGEFELL V. HODGES DECISION, AND TO
RESTORE THE RIGHTS OF THE STATE TO PRESCRIBE THE CONDITIONS FOR MARRIAGE AND
THE DISSOLUTION OF MARRIAGE.
WHEREAS, the
decision by the Supreme Court of the United States in Obergefell v. Hodges,
576 U.S. 644 (2015), is at odds with the Constitution of the United States and
the principles upon which the United States is established; and
WHEREAS, liberty
has long been understood as individual freedom from governmental action, not as
a right to a particular governmental entitlement; and
WHEREAS, Obergefell
invokes a definition of "liberty" that the Framers would not have
recognized, rejecting the idea memorialized in the Declaration of Independence
that human dignity is innate; and
WHEREAS, when
the Framers proclaimed in the Declaration of Independence that "all men
are created equal" and "endowed by their Creator with certain
unalienable Rights," they referred to a vision of mankind in which all
humans are created in the image of God and are, therefore, of inherent worth;
and
WHEREAS, Obergefell
undermines this vision by declaring that citizens must seek their identity and
self-worth from the government and positive law pronouncements; and
WHEREAS, Obergefell
relies on the dangerous fiction of treating the Due Process Clause of the
Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution as a font of substantive rights, a
doctrine that strays from the proper meaning of the Constitution and exalts judges
at the expense of the people from whom judges derive their authority; and
WHEREAS, Obergefell's
inversion of the original meaning of liberty causes collateral damage to other
aspects of our constitutional order that protect liberty, including religious
liberty; and
WHEREAS, the
Supreme Court recognized in United States v. Windsor, 57031 U.S. 744 (2013),
that the definition of marriage is "an area that has long been regarded as
a virtually exclusive province of the states," meaning that the State of
Mississippi, and not the Supreme Court, has the right to regulate marriage for
its citizens; and
WHEREAS, Obergefell
requires states to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples and to recognize
same-sex marriages in complete contravention of their own state constitutions
and the will of their voters, thus undermining the civil liberties and
democratic institutions of those states' residents and voters; and
WHEREAS,
marriage as an institution has been recognized as the union of one man and one
woman for more than 2,000 years, and within common law, the basis of the United
States' Anglo-American legal tradition, for more than 800 years; and
WHEREAS, the
voters of the State of Mississippi defined marriage as the exclusive union of
one man and one woman in a 2004 statewide initiative that passed with the
support of 86% of voters; and
WHEREAS, Obergefell
arbitrarily and unjustly rejected this Biblical, ancient and common-law
definition of marriage in favor of a novel, flawed and inaccurate
interpretation of the Constitution; and
WHEREAS, the Obergefell
decision was illegitimate because two of the justices in the majority ruling,
Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Elena Kagan, had previously officiated same-sex
weddings, and thus were not impartial triers of fact, and therefore should have
recused themselves according to 28 U.S. Code � 455; and
���� WHEREAS, since court rulings
are not laws and only Legislatures elected by the people may pass laws, Obergefell
is an illegitimate overreach:
���� NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT
RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, THE HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING THEREIN, That the Legislature rejects the Obergefell
decision.
BE IT FURTHER
RESOLVED, That the Senate, the House of Representatives concurring therein,
calls upon the Supreme Court of the United States to reverse the Obergefell
decision, to restore the natural and common-law definition of marriage, a union
of one man and one woman.
BE IT FURTHER
RESOLVED, That the Senate, the House of Representatives concurring therein,
insists on restoring the issue of marriage and enforcement of all laws
pertaining to marriage to the several states and to the people.
���� BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That
the Secretary of the Senate is hereby authorized and directed to forward a
certified copy of this resolution to the Supreme Court of the United States.
���� BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That
this resolution be made available to the Capitol Press Corps.