The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled unanimously to allow a Mississippi law to go into effect that protects the religious liberty and conscience rights of those who hold traditional marriage beliefs. The broad-based law provides religious liberty protections to religious organizations, universities, bakers, photographers, florists, and more.
In the decision, the circuit court overruled a previous judgment from a district court judge who had declared the Mississippi law unconstitutional for violating the Establishment Clause and the Equal Protection Clause.
But as the circuit court pointed out, the challengers to Mississippi’s law lack standing because they “have not clearly shown injury-in-fact.” In other words, they did not show how the Mississippi law protecting liberty for people who hold to the pre-Obergefell v. Hodges definition of marriage harmed them.
The court explained that the “failure” of the “plaintiffs to assert anything more than a general stigmatic injury dooms their claim.”