N.C. couples renew challenge to magistrate protections

Three couples have appealed a court decision that protects North Carolina magistrates from being forced to issue marriage certificates to same-sex couples. U.S. District Judge Max Cogburn ruled in September the couples, two homosexual and one interracial, hadn’t shown they suffered harm under the law, which took effect in June 2015. The couples filed a challenge to Cogburn’s ruling Monday with the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. North Carolina lawmakers adopted the bill—over a veto from Gov. Pat McCrory—to protect magistrates who don’t want to participate in same-sex marriages because of their sincere religious beliefs. Under the law, magistrates who seek an exemption must recuse themselves from issuing marriage certificates for both heterosexual and homosexual couples for at least six months.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.