Lawsuit Against SCOTUS Justices for Gay Marriage Ruling is Dismissed

October 27, 2016 by Ed Brayton

You may recall that back in February, an incredibly stupid attorney from Alabama filed a federal lawsuit against the five Supreme Court justices who were in the majority in the Obergefell decision. I said at the time that it would be quickly dismissed and so it has.

A federal judge on Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit filed by a Bessemer attorney against the five U.S. Supreme Court justices who made up the majority opinion legalizing gay marriage nationwide.

U.S. District Court Judge Madeline Haikala tossed out the lawsuit based on judicial immunity. The U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled in a previous case that federal judges have judicial immunity for lawsuits regarding decisions they make and that she is bound by that precedent, she said.

The hearing lasted less than 30 minutes.

I’m shocked. 30 minutes seems a long time; I thought a few picoseconds was more likely. Said dumbass attorney is, of course, going to appeal:

Austin Burdick, the man who filed the lawsuit in February, said after the hearing that he plans to appeal to the 11th Circuit…

One of the issues for him, Burdick said, is that there is no accountability put in place for federal judges.

Yeah, that was quite intentional on the part of the framers of the Constitution. They gave them lifetime tenure and eliminated any need to run for election precisely so that they would not be accountable to the passions of the people, who might object to their rulings. They are beholden to the Constitution, not to the people. And that’s how it should be. The appeals court will take no longer to dismiss it than the district court did.