LifeSite.net, a pro-life publication afflicted with the Campaign Life Coalition, reports that it was just made public that 44 pro-family leaders signed a letter addressed to former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney on December 20th. The letter asked him to repeal his order directing public officials to perform "same sex marriages," which Romney refused to do before leaving office.:

The letter cited numerous, historical cases and the Massachusetts’ Constitution to assert that Romney’s actions in implementing ‘gay marriage’ were beyond the bounds of his authority as governor. The authors further asserted that his actions were unconstitutional as were the actions of the four initial judges who formulated the official opinion on the matter in the ‘Goodridge’ case, the case that originally brought the matter to national attention.

Commenting on the ‘Goodridge’ opinion, Judge Robert Bork said that it was “untethered to either the Massachusetts or United States Constitution.”

As quoted in the letter, the MA Constitution denies the judicial branch of its government any authority over the state’s marriage policies. So it was that three of the seven judges that heard the Goodrich case strongly dissented that the court did not have authority to formulate laws.

The letter also outlined how the MA Constitution forbids judges from establishing or altering law. According to the Constitution, such a task is to be left to the legislature. The judges’ opinion in the Goodrich case admitted that they were not altering the standing marriage statute in MA.

Instead, Governor Romney took it upon himself, despite legal counsel to do otherwise, to order officials across the state that they would have to perform ‘gay marriages’, even though, according to Massachusetts law, to do so is a felony. Officials who refused were advised to resign their position.

Throughout the whole ordeal, Romney maintained that he was personally against ‘homosexual marriage’ but that he must “execute the law.” The conservatives’ letter clearly illustrates how Romney was not “executing the law” but merely facilitating the agenda of activist judges – beyond even the judges’ own expectations.

The letter clearly explained how Romney’s actions, in reality, are a crime under Massachusetts because of his oath to uphold the Constitution.

The full letter is available here, which makes a convincing argument that Romney overstepped his role as Governor by ordering same sex marriages. It is important to note that the letter is hosted at the website for the organization run by Brian Camenker. Camenker is the same conservative activist (and gadfly) that was attacked by the Romney campaign in a very un-Presidential fashion.

As Ricky Ricardo might say, Mitt Romney has lot of "splainin' to do" with Republican social conservatives on the marriage issue.