DA Craig Northcott said that he won’t prosecute LGBT domestic violence cases because he doesn’t recognize same-sex marriages. Screenshot via NBC video “Northcott: ‘I don’t recognize’ same-sex unions ‘as marriage’
Craig Northcott, a District Attorney for Coffee County, Tennessee, refuses to persecute LGBT domestic violence cases because he doesn’t believe that same-sex marriages are valid despite being federal law, according to NBC.
Because of his comments during a 2018 video, many people are urging for his resignation as I presume, they feel that he does not accurately represent what a District Attorney should be. In the video, a man asked a hypothetical question in which he referred to the legalization of same-sex marriage, which happened three years prior to the question being asked, as “ridiculous” and asked Northcott “How as Christians do you think we should deal with all those situations?”
Northcott, after criticizing the five Supreme Court Justices that passed Obergefell v. Hodges, switched to the topic of domestic abuse. He said that he disagrees with the Supreme Court in the legalization of same-sex marriage and that he is stuck in his own personal moral quandary as if he persecutes LGBT domestic violence cases he will acknowledge that same-sex marriage and if he doesn’t persecute them, he believes that the sinner will go unpunished.
He also said that in the context of domestic abuse, the domestic part comes from the marriage so he doesn’t prosecute LGBT domestic abuse cases because he doesn’t believe that there’s a marriage in the first place. His refusal is a violation of federal law as same-sex marriage has been legalized at a federal level. Northcott has shown that he can’t be bipartisan and I think that’s a pretty important quality to have as a District Attorney. As far as I’m concerned, he has no right to occupy the position that he currently holds.
Source: NBC
