AUM Professor Still Waiting on his Same-Sex Lawsuit Against State
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A local professor is still waiting to see how the courts will rule in his case against the state regarding same-sex marriage. Paul Hard filed a lawsuit, challenging Alabama’s ban on same-sex marriage in 2011 after his spouse was killed and the state didn’t see the marriage as valid.
Dr. Paul Hard married his husband David Fancher in Massachusetts back in 2011. Two and a half months later, tragedy struck when Fancher was killed in a car wreck in Alabama. At the hospital, Hard wasn’t allowed to see Fancher and was told of his death in the hall by an orderly.
“Then in the funeral home, I was once again told that Alabama did not recognize same sex marriage and the forms that I buried my husband with all stated that he was never married.”
But that was just the beginning of Hard’s nightmare. He was the heir to Fancher’s estate but wasn’t able to receive compensation from a wrongful death suit or survivor benefits because of Alabama’s ban on same-sex marriage. So he sued the state. After a judge ruled on Friday and again on Tuesday that Alabama’s ban on gay marriage is unconstitutional, Hard says he’s now feeling optimistic about his case.
“It gives me great hope,” he says. “I don’t know where things stand with my case. I know everything was turned into the court October 29th and we’re still waiting on a ruling.”
The Southern Poverty Law Center is representing Hard and also going after Chief Justice Roy Moore, who sent a letter to Governor Robert Bentley calling the judge’s rulings “judicial tyranny.”
“Roy Moore doesn’t seem really interested in being the Chief Justice of Alabama. He seems more interested in being the chief pastor of Alabama,” says Richard Cohen.
Cohen says he believes Moore wants to be the next governor and is grandstanding for political gain. The organization filed an ethics complaint against Moore Wednesday.
“What I hope will happen is that Justice Moore is kicked out of office. He doesn’t deserve to be a judge. What I fear will happen is he will collect political points for picking this fight.”
