Virginia Delegate Bob Marshall, a
Republican, has filed a resolution seeking to impeach Democratic
Attorney General Mark Herring over his refusal to defend Virginia's
ban on gay marriage.
Herring has sided with plaintiffs in a
case challenging the state's ban. In a brief filed last month,
Herring asked the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond to
affirm a lower court's decision declaring Virginia's ban invalid.
Marshall, a vocal opponent of gay
rights, called on supporters to lobby Virginia lawmakers and Speaker
of the House William J. Howell, also a Republican, to support his
resolution.
Howell has said he does not support
impeachment proceedings against Herring.
“We Virginians, and those elected
representatives of the people who still accept the 'Laws of Nature
and Nature's God' need to show the Supreme Court Justices what
Virginians think of elected officials who seek to impose same sex,
sodomy 'marriage' with its vast and far reaching social and legal
implications, by their 'end run' around Virginia's General Assembly
and 1.3 million Virginia voters who ratified the Marriage Amendment
in 2006,” Marshall
wrote.
Marshall also targeted judges who have
struck down such bans as unconstitutional: “Their reliance on the
14th Amendment's 'equal protection' makes no sense because
when the 14th Amendment was ratified, sodomy was a felony
in nearly every state.”
“[T]he 1.3 million voters who
ratified the Marriage Amendment in 2006 deserve to be defended by
Republicans who should be fearless in doing their duty to prevent
Mark Herring from exercising powers he does not have,” he added.
A
petition calling on the House of Delegates to “examine whether
Attorney General Mark Herring should be impeached” has received 171
signatures, including many, such as “Bob Marshall is an idiot”
and “Wrong side of history,” that are clearly not supportive.