Will Iowa’s Judges Drop Out of the Marriage Game?
Despite Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller reminding everyone that, hey, the State Supreme Court decided not allowing same-sex marriage is unconstitutional, faulty logic operators (like a certain state senator) have refused to go along. Now, Iowa Judge Francis Honrath says he’s going to stop performing marriages: “The Supreme Court ruling had something to do with it, but the truth is it’s not just same-sex marriage I had problems with.” It’s not illegal for judges to refuse to conduct marriages, but given the new law, they cannot choose to perform hetero marriages but not homo ones. By recusing themselves from the issue altogether, then, they might also avoid sensitive political issues — something to consider when they’re up for re-election. County recorders, meanwhile, don’t have a say: They must issue same-sex marriage licenses.
Oh, the smell of cowardice in the morning….
To those that look to the judiciary as saviors…don’t forget they are all politicians too. If you put faith in them, you better hope they share your views.
Don’t you get sick of those who make such a big deal out of who others choose to love??
I envision unless something is done about this (which probably won’t happen), people in western Iowa will have to travel greater distances to get married than in eastern Iowa. Bigot judges, who knew? Yeah right.
@Bruno: Why? From the looks of it there weren’t many marriages performed by judges anyway. Doesn’t impact the requirement that county recorders do it.