In defending his decision to defend in
court Michigan's ban on gay marriage, Michigan Attorney General Bill
Schuette declared he's not “one of these Eric Holder attorneys
general.”
Schuette made his remarks while
speaking to the Saginaw County Republicans at the group's annual
Lincoln Day Breakfast on Saturday, one day after U.S. District Judge
Bernard Friedman struck down Michigan's ban as unconstitutional,
prompting a rush to the altar of hundreds of gay couples before a
federal appeals court temporarily blocked Friedman's order.
(Related: Hundreds
marry in Michigan before appeals court stays gay marriage decision.)
Schuette, a Republican, told the crowd
that he was going to “stand up for the constitution.”
“I don't believe in selective
enforcement,” Schuette
said. “Constitutions are meant to be followed. Constitutions
aren't meant to be convenient. Constitutions are meant to be adhered
[to].”
“And I'm not one of these Eric Holder
attorneys general who picks and chooses. And you can can't pick and
choose which constitutional provisions you enforce. Constitutions
aren't like the buffet line at the Saginaw Club, where you get to
make choices of what you want.”
Earlier in the month, U.S. Attorney
General Eric Holder, a Democrat, said state attorneys general are not
obligated to defend such bans.
(Related: Eric
Holder: State attorneys general “must be suspicious” of gay
marriage bans.)