An Obama appointed, former ACLU, federal district court judge, Carlton Reeves, blocked the Mississippi law, known as “Protecting Freedom of Conscience from Government Discrimination Act,” moments before it would have gone into effect today. Reeves, who served on the board of the ACLU of Mississippi before he was appointed by President Obama, issued an opinion in which he described the Mississippi law as “state-sanctioned discrimination.” The judge-strained opinion also states the law gives preference to religions regarding beliefs about marriage and “gender identity.”

HB 1523 would have protected natural persons, pastors, and closely-held corporations from discrimination and legal action by the state or state agencies, due to sincerely held religious beliefs or convictions. Marriage-related industries, adoptions, churches and pastors, businesses with private facilities like restrooms and lockers, employer grooming standards, expressive activity of state employees, and clerks and others who perform marriages or issue licenses were also included. 

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