BATON ROUGE, La. - A Louisiana justice of the peace who refused to marry a couple because the bride is white and the groom is black resigned yesterday, after weeks of refusing to step down despite calls for his ouster from officials including the governor.
Keith Bardwell quit with a one-sentence statement to Louisiana Secretary of State Jay Dardenne and no explanation of his decision.
Governor Bobby Jindal called Bardwell’s resignation “long overdue.’’
Bardwell, who is white, refused to marry Beth Humphrey and Terence McKay.
When questioned, Bardwell acknowledged he routinely avoids marrying interracial couples because he believes children born to them end up suffering. In interviews, he said he refers the couples to other justices of the peace, who then perform the ceremony, which happened in this case.
Humphrey and McKay have filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against Bardwell. The couple did not immediately return a call for comment.
Bardwell also didn’t immediately return a call for comment yesterday about his resignation, which followed calls for his removal from civil rights groups and several public officials, including Jindal and Senator Mary Landrieu.
“This was the right decision by Mr. Bardwell. What he did was clearly wrong and this resignation was long overdue,’’ Jindal said in a statement released by his office.
