Leave it to a federal judge named Granade to blow up the marriage debate into an even bigger legal debate. Federal Judge Callie Granade, whose ruling was as explosive as the weapon it sounds like, has been at the center of a national firestorm over marriage since she issued an opinion last month. Her January decision to overthrow Alabama’s natural marriage amendment hit an unexpected snag when officials with legal jurisdiction in Alabama refused to capitulate to her judicial overreach.

By order of Alabama’s Chief Justice Roy Moore, several probate judges across the state have refused to issue same-sex “marriage” licenses – stunning liberals and threatening to topple the Left’s mirage of court-imposed power. As Justice Moore has clearly stated, Granade’s decision is limited to the specific parties to the case and only serves as persuasive (not binding) authority to non-parties. But those non-parties include probate judges under Justice Moore’s administrative authority. In that capacity, he has informed them that anyone who issues licenses to homosexual couples is “breaking the Alabama Constitution’s marriage amendment, which has not been overturned by the United States Supreme Court.” And Alabama’s word is the final one on marriage until the Supreme Court intervenes this summer.

As Chief Justice, Roy’s word is the final one on marriage until the Supreme Court intervenes this summer. That seems to be lost on the Left, who is pitching a fit that Alabama is daring to challenge the authority of one unelected judge. “Nobody has ruled on marriage,” Judge Moore told reporters. “If they had ruled on marriage, we wouldn’t need to be going to the United States Supreme Court in April… There is no law right now that overcomes the Alabama Constitution.”

Granade, who was already on thin legal ice with her ruling, has tried to force Alabama’s hand by ordering one of those probate judges to comply. Late last week, she demanded that Mobile County’s Judge Don Davis follow her directive over Roy Moore’s. “Probate Judge Don Davis is hereby enjoined,” Granade fumed, “from refusing to issue marriage licenses to plaintiffs due to the Alabama laws which prohibit same-sex marriage.”

Technically, her order only applies to Judge Davis – not the probate judges of all 67 counties. No probate judge is bound by (or party to) Granade’s ruling. In fact, their determination of what the constitution requires is no less valid than the federal district court’s. Until America’s highest court rules, probate judges are still accountable to state authority, which happens to be Chief Justice Roy Moore. Unfortunately, too many people seem to have lost their concept of federalism in this country, thanks to this outbreak of judicial activism. “We’ve got this federal intrusion into state sovereignty… occurring right under our nose and nobody is standing up,” Moore said over the weekend. “Twenty-one states have bowed down to federal court orders when they didn’t have to. We’ve got to understand that what a judge says is not law.”

It’s a complicated legal issue, to be sure. Justice Moore’s critics would do well to pause and understand the legal issues before rushing in and blindly criticizing his position. Someone in an elected position, like Moore, is obligated to stand up for the constitution he or she swore to uphold – and that means not acquiescing to those who exceed their authority. As the Founders proved, this is not only a legitimate use of power, it’s a necessary use of it unless we’re content to live under tyranny. For the latest on Alabama’s resistance, check out Peter Sprigg’s great analysis in [Monday’s] Townhall.

Balk like an Egyptian

After ISIS’s latest atrocities, it wasn’t what the President said that infuriated conservatives, but what he didn’t say. In a gruesome video released this weekend, 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians were viciously slaughtered for their faith. Unfortunately, you wouldn’t know that from the White House’s official statement, which went out of its way to ignore the Christianity they were targeted for.

“The United States condemns the despicable and cowardly murder of twenty-one Egyptian citizens in Libya by ISIL-affiliated terrorists,” the administration said. Obviously, the omission of their faith was as significant as it was intentional. Outlets like the BBC and New York Post broadly reported that the beheaded were targeted for being Christians: “A caption accompanying the video made it clear the hostages were targeted because of their faith. It referred to the victims as ‘people of the cross, followers of the hostile Egyptian church.” This is incredibly important because, if it’s true, then it supports the idea of a Christian genocide in the Middle East, which groups like FRC have argued all along.

Even the politically correct U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child, which isn’t typically FRC’s go-to source, is highlighting the persecution of minority children under ISIS. For this administration to continually go out of its way to ignore a crisis that the rest of the world acknowledges is insulting, outrageous, and transparent.

Ark. de Triumph! Leaders Fight SOGI Wave

It might not be home to the Alamo, but the call to Remember Houston is fueling conservatives across the country to stop the attack on the freedom of belief through special gender identity bills. In Arkansas, state leaders made it clear that local governments, like Fayetteville, couldn’t adopt these onerous special rights measure that trample freedom and drive away business.

By huge margins, the Arkansas House (57-20) and Senate (24-8) passed a bill that would ban city councils from enacting Houston-type measures that punish people with conservative views on issues like marriage and sexual morality. Under a handful of ordinances around the country, local governments have used these proposals as an excuse to trample Americans’ freedom of belief – and punish small business owners like cake makers who morally object to participating in same-sex “weddings.” In other places, the measures have become a privacy and safety nightmare for parents, who shudder to think of their daughters sharing public restrooms, showers, and locker rooms with grown men who abuse the “gender identity” language to prey on the opposite sex.

Gov. Asa Hutchinson ® has already said that he’ll let the bill become law, which gives conservatives – not just a victory, but a roadmap for other states to do the same. Our hats go off to Arkansas leaders for paving the way in the fight to uphold the freedom of every American, regardless of their religious views.

This is a publication of the Family Research Council. Mr. Perkins is president of FRC.