Advertisement


Sen. Bartz to Attorney General Miller: Stop the hypocrisy
4/23/2009

For Immediate Release Contact: Senator Bartz

Thursday April 23, 2009 (641) 903-9548

BARTZ TO A.G.: STOP THE HYPOCRISY

DES MOINES —In a tersely worded statement directed at the Attorney General’s office, State Senator Merlin Bartz (R-Grafton) called on Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller to stop the hypocrisy of threatening county recorders with removal from office if they choose to invoke their conscience on April 27th regarding issuing same sex marriage licenses.

“It is truly amazing to me that the state’s Attorney General chose to not follow his own rules of providing legal council to the state regarding cases where the state has an interest, and yet he’s stating publicly that county recorders cannot refuse to issue same sex marriage licenses. Evidently, the Attorney General gets a conscience clause free pass but the county recorders don’t,” Bartz stated.

Rules governing the Attorney General’s position and scope specifically state that the “attorney general provides legal counsel and direction to the state by participation in cases before the courts where the state has an interest.” In the Varnum v Brien case, which affects a multitude of Iowa statutes beyond just marriage law, the Attorney General utilized neither right nor permission regarding the rules for intervention, even though there exists an ethical duty to defend citizens of the state and the challenged statute was presumed to be constitutional.

“Tom Miller’s silence on this issue of historic magnitude prior to the Supreme Court ruling is deafening. He has no right to advise county recorders to violate their conscience, given the fact that he has evidently selectively chosen to utilize his, “ Bartz concluded.

###


Printer-friendly version      Send this article to a friend