A charge of impeachment is expected to
be brought against Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler in
the Maryland House on Wednesday.
County Delegate Don Dwyer, a Glen
Burnie Republican, said he will offer impeachment charges on the
House floor against the state's top lawyer for his favorable gay
marriage opinion.
Gansler's February 24 opinion concludes
that Maryland's highest court is likely to decide in favor of
recognizing gay marriages performed in other states. State agencies
are expected to follow the opinion and recognize the marriages of gay
couples performed in other jurisdictions over the objection of a
state law that bans such unions. The opinion arrived a week before a
gay marriage law took effect in neighboring District of Columbia on
March 3.
Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley has
endorsed the opinion, saying it's “sound advice.”
Dwyer claims that Gansler overstepped
his authority in drafting the opinion.
House Speaker Michael E. Busch, a
Democrat, is expected to dismiss the impeachment matter.
Other Republican lawmakers have
attempted to legislate away Gansler's opinion by offering bills
that would forbid the state from recognizing such marriages.