In an acceptance speech for the Coalition of African-American Pastors' "Letter from the Birmingham Jail Courage Award," Alabama Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore made the comparison between segregation laws and the current fight for marriage equality -- but not in the way you would hope.
Referencing Plessy v. Ferguson, the case that upheld the constitutionality of racial segregation, and Dred Scott v. Sandford, which found that slaves and free black people weren't American citizens, Moore argued that Supreme Court decisions had been deeply flawed before and that they still could today. He warned that the Supreme Court could soon make another similar mistake by legalizing same-sex marriage.
"The other states have been forced by courts to distance themselves from their laws and attitudes regarding marriage," Moore said. "The problem is that federal courts have no authority in that area."
"Marriage isn't based on love," he continued. "Marriage is based on the law."
Watch the full speech below:
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