Litigation

Iowa Leader Bars Challenge to Gay Marriage Ruling

By Charlie Hall

Iowa’s Senate majority leader says he will not support any legislative challenge to a state Supreme Court ruling upholding gay marriage in his state, effectively killing any attempt by some lawmakers to intervene.

According to an Associated Press article, the refusal by Senator Michael Gronstal leaves gay marriage opponents few immediate options for overturning the high court by amending the state’s constitution. One possibility is to invite voters to seek a state constitution convention in 2010. The article said that voters are asked every 10 years in the general election ballot if they want to hold such a convention.

Unlike California, where voters passed a constitutional amendment after the state Supreme Court upheld gay marriage, Iowa has no provision for amending the constitution through ballot measures.

Despite Gronstal’s statement, the Iowa ruling continues to stir dissent. According to the Associated Press article, Rep. Dwayne Alons said, “The people of this state should have a say.” And in another article, former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich said the decision to allow same-sex marriage in Iowa was “outrageously wrong” and demonstrated “judicial arrogance.”

To learn more, see this previous Gavel Grab posting.

Full post as published by The Gavel on April 08, 2009 (boomark / email).