BATON ROUGE, La. — A Louisiana justice of the peace who refused to marry a couple because the bride was white and groom was black has resigned.
Louisiana Secretary of State’s Office spokesman Jacques Berry said Keith Bardwell’s resignation was effective yesterday.
Bardwell, who refused to perform the ceremony for Beth Humphrey and Terence McKay because they are of different races, acknowledged that he routinely recused himself from marrying interracial couples because he believes such marriages cause harm to the couples’ children.
Another justice of the peace eventually married the couple who are suing.