Iowa GOP Proposes “Supreme Court Proof” Gay Marriage Ban
Posted By Eric Ethington (Author) on February 25, 2011
Iowa – The House Republicans are getting desperate. 6 have signed on as co-sponsors of a bill which not only bans marriage between gay couples, but states that the law is “un-reviewable” by the Supreme Court. If it passes, the Supreme Court would be barred from hearing any challenges.
After the Iowa Supreme Court ruled in 2009 that marriage between same sex couples was a constitutional right, conservatives have been searching for any possibility to overturn that decision.
This new idea sounds highly suspicious, but while the state Attorney General is “unquestionably unconstitutional,” one Drake University Law Professor says that it may be legal on a small technicality.
County recorders would be prohibited from issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples and the Iowa Supreme Court would be unable to rule on the issue under a bill sponsored by six conservative House Republicans.
House File 330 specifically says that the Supreme Court would not be able to overturn or restrict the law if the bill were passed.
Review of laws by the Iowa Supreme Court is one of the fundamental pieces of the state’s system of checks and balances, and such a provision faces intense legal hurdles.
A spokesman for Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller said the bill is unquestionably unconstitutional.
"Eric, trying to have this (civil rights) conversation with you is ultimately like trying to teach a pig to dance, it just annoys the pig. So Eric, sorry to annoy you."
-Paul Mero, The Sutherland Institute.
Umm that is so unconstitutional that I can’t even fathom why they would bother trying: the courts would bar implementation of the law immediately, and then upon reviewing the legislation would find the law unconstitutional for that very reason and strike down the whole thing. This is just a waste of time.
I thought the same thing. And apparently the state AG is also saying that. But there is also that one other professor who says that technically they can do that, but it’s never used and highly questionable.
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Why doesn’t someone make a law banning that type of law? I also want a law saying I get a pony and free ice cream every day.