United States Constitution, Judge Reeves notes HB 1523 singles out Leviticus 18 while ignoring Leviticus's other prohibitions, such as mixing wool and linens. Judge Reeves further compares Governor Bryant's opposition to the Obergefell v. Hodges decision to Governor James P. Coleman's opposition to the Brown v. Board of Education decision. On July 13, 2016, Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood announced his office would not pursue an appeal of Judge Reeves' ruling. In a statement, Hood said, "... all HB 1523 has done is tarnish Mississippi's image while distracting us from the more pressing issues of decaying roads and bridges, underfunding of public education, the plight of the mentally ill and the need to solve our state's financial mess." Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant has retained the services of a private attorney, Drew Snyder, to continue the appeal in federal court using private funds. Governor Phil Bryant and John Davis, executive director of the Mississippi Department of Human Services, appealed the District Court Barber v. Bryant decision to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. On June 23, 2017, United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit found that the Barber v. Bryant plaintiffs lacked standing. An excerpt from Circuit Judge Jerry Edwin Smith's opinion reads: "We do not foreclose the possibility that a future plaintiff may be able to show clear injury-in-fact that satisfies the 'irreducible constitutional minimum of standing,' ... [T]he federal courts must withhold judgment unless and until that plaintiff comes forward. The preliminary injunction is REVERSED, and a judgment of dismissal for want of jurisdiction is RENDERED." The three-judge panel who heard the case (which also included Judge Jennifer Elrod and Judge Catharina Haynes) agreed unanimously. This ruling reversed Judge Reeves' earlier decision in U.S. District Court; thus, H.B. 1523 went into effect. On behalf of the case's plaintiffs, Robert McDuff appealed the Fifth Circuit decision in Barber v. Bryant to the United States Supreme Court, claiming that the bill violates both the First and Fourteenth Amendments. On January 8, 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the case without comment. Campaign for Southern Equality (CSE) v. Bryant Campaign for Southern Equality v. Bryant was a suit filed in federal district court before H.B. 1523 was even drafted, on October 20, 2014. The plaintiffs were the ACLU and several individual Mississippians represented by Roberta A. Kaplan. CSE v. Bryant challenged Mississippi's statutory and