This is going to sound antique, but Beth McKay and her fiancé Terence were denied the right to marry because Justice of the Peace Keith Bardwell of Louisiana refused to officiate the union of an interracial couple. Imagine if you were in love with someone of a different skin color than you and wanted to make your bond legal and lifelong. Then, in one swoop, you’re denied because of a color variant. Although the couple was later married elsewhere, the devastation of the moment has lingered to this day. The couple is planning to bring legal action against Bardwell for his abuse of authority and Governor Jindal is calling for his immediate dismissal.

With the single sentence “We don’t do interracial weddings or marriages” temporarily went the hopes and dreams of Beth and Terence to be man and wife. They always knew that private racism still existed in the world, but they never believed that it would take such an overt form. Mr. Bardwell is a taxpayer backed public official took an oath to uphold the laws of the land. He is legally required to perform this service. However, according to CBS news, his reasoning in not doing so was that he felt interracial marriages don’t last and the children produced from them would end up growing up in an unstable single parent home. Although he didn’t cite any studies, he decided to ransack this couple’s life by calling on his experience with people he’s known.

There are studies that show a correlation been a child’s instability and single parent upbringing though. Research has revealed that by 1996, 70% of inmates in state juvenile detention centers that were serving long term sentences were raised by single mothers. 72% of juvenile murders and 60% of rapists come from single-mother homes. 70% of teenage births, dropouts, suicides, runaways, juvenile delinquents, and child murderers involve children raised by single mothers. Studies seem to indicate that having a two parent home creates a stronger womb of discipline for children to develop. However, this has absolutely nothing to do with race. A study by the Progressive Policy Institute showed that after controlling for single motherhood, the difference between black and white crime rates disappeared. The igniting factor for these statistics was not race, but rather completely about whether the parents, black or white or mixed, stayed together.

Bardwell disregarded these known statistics and went with his gut. This is unacceptable. We cannot allow public officials to determine the fundamental right to marry by a hunch. If we did, most people in the United States should not be allowed to bind in a legal union. According to the Forest Institute of Professional Psychology, “50% percent of first marriages, 67% of second and 74% of third marriages end in divorce.” Should the majority of Americans be denied this right because there is a risk of divorce? Of course not.

According to the 1967 Supreme Court case Loving v. Virginia, a state cannot discriminate against the right to marry between two individuals on the basis of race. The Court stated that “Marriage is one of the basic civil rights of man. Under our Constitution, the freedom to marry, or not to marry, a person of another race resides with the individual and cannot be infringed by the State.” Justice Bardwell as a very short hindsight that allowed his bigoted views to overwhelm his duty to the people of Louisiana. The McKays are planning on using all the legal expertise they can find to make sure Bardwell is reprimanded for his actions.

This is what the law provides, a defense for regular people who have been injured through no fault of their own. This is what the United States legal system is all about. Have you ever had a passion for argument, debate and fairness? Perhaps a career as a paralegal or legal assistant is just for you. Take a look at the programs available to you now.