Republican Lawmakers Seek to Impeach 4 Iowa Supreme Court Justices Who Struck Gay-Marriage Ban
After the Iowa Supreme Court last year struck down as unconstitutional a state statutory ban on gay marriage, opponents of same-sex marriage targeted the three judges among the seven total justices on the court who were up for retention this year.
And, in a stunning Election Day defeat, all three of the sitting justices lost their bids to stay on the bench of the state’s top court.
Now state Republican lawmakers have launched a new effort to oust the remaining four justices who joined in the unanimous 2009 ruling striking the same-sex marriage ban, reports the Ballot Box blog of the Hill.
The state constitution provides for the impeachment of a justice who has committed a misdemeanor or malfeasance while in office, reports Reuters. If the state house of representatives votes to impeach, the state senate would then try the case.
A spokesman for the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa calls the impeachment effort “truly shocking,” the news agency notes.
