Moore, who famously ignored a federal judicial order to remove a large sculpture of the Ten Commandments from the Alabama Judicial Building, continues to see the wisdom of ignoring binding orders from higher judicial authorities.

“I ask you to continue to uphold and support the Alabama Constitution with respect to marriage,” Moore urged Governor Bentley, “both for the welfare of this state and for our posterity. Be advised that I stand with you to stop judicial tyranny and any unlawful opinions issued without constitutional authority.”

In response to the letter, HRC Alabama director Ashley Jackson issued the following statement:

“There’s something deeply ironic about a judge seeking the right to ignore another judge’s ruling while crying ‘judicial activism.’ The U.S. constitution guarantees the equal protection of the law for all Americans, and, sooner rather than later, that equality must come to Alabama’s families, too.”

Moore has previously spoken out against marriage equality. In 2012, at a rally of the DeKalb County Tea Party, Moore said, “same sex marriage will be the ultimate destruction of our country because it destroys the very foundation upon which this nation is based.”

Last Friday, U.S. District Judge Callie V.S. Granade struck down Alabama’s marriage ban in the case Searcy v. Strange, ruling that the marriage of plaintiffs Cari Searcy and Kimberly McKeand should be recognized under the federal constitution’s equality principle. The judge issued a second ruling striking down the marriage ban today, in response to a lawsuit filed by plaintiffs James Strawser and John Humphrey. The rulings are stayed until February 9^th, and the matter is now on appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11^th Circuit.