Ralph Reed, head of the Christian
conservative Faith and Freedom Coalition, on Friday said that
Attorney General Eric Holder should be removed from office for
advising state attorneys general that they do not have to defend
state bans on gay marriage.
“When the chief law-enforcement
official in the United States shows no respect whatsoever for the
rule of law and shows no respect whatsoever for the state
constitutions of the duly passed laws of sovereign states,” then
“that is an impeachable offense and it's time for Eric Holder to
go,” Reed told a Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC)
audience.
In addressing the National Association
of Attorneys General winter meeting two weeks ago, Holder said state
attorneys general are not obligated to defend unconstitutional laws.
“Any decisions – at any level –
not to defend individual laws must be exceedingly rare,” Holder
said. “They must be reserved only for exceptional circumstances.
And they must never stem merely from policy or political
disagreements – hinging instead only on firm constitutional
grounds. But in general, I believe we must be suspicious of legal
classifications based solely on sexual orientation. And we must
endeavor – in all of our efforts – to uphold and advance the
values that once led our forebears to declare unequivocally that all
are created equal and entitled to equal opportunity.”
Attorneys general from seven states –
Kentucky, California, Virginia, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Oregon and
Nevada – have refused to defend such laws in court.