STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA TO REVERSE US SUPREME COURT MARRIAGE RULING
Published Sources report:
A pair of South Carolina state representatives have filed a bill to stop application of the Supreme Court's same-sex marriage ruling at the state borders.
State Representatives Bill Chumley and Mike Burns will co-sponsor House Bill 4513 when the state legislature reconvenes in 2016.
In an effort to protect the traditional definition of marriage within South Carolina, the bill states that "It is the policy of the State of South Carolina to defend natural marriage as recognized by the people of this State in the Constitution and laws of the State of South Carolina."
Additionally, the proposal explicitly nullifies the recent ruling by the Supreme Court wherein marriage between two people of the same gender was declared a constitutionally protected right.
"Natural marriage between one man and one woman as recognized by the people of this State remains the law in South Carolina, regardless of any court decision to the contrary. A court decision purporting to strike down natural marriage, including Obergefell v. Hodges, 135 S.Ct. 2584 (2015), is unauthoritative, void, and of no effect," the legislation reads.
And, in an apparent reaction to the case of the Rowan County, Kentucky, clerk who was arrested for refusing to issue a marriage license to a same-sex couple, the proposed South Carolina statute would protect the person and property of "any government official or individual who does not comply with any unlawful court order regarding natural marriage within South Carolina."
Text of the bill: