Sioux City businessman and former GOP
gubernatorial candidate Bob Vander Plaats, who spearheaded the
successful effort to oust three Iowa Supreme Court justices who ruled
in favor of gay marriage, says the remaining four judges should
resign, Radio Iowa reported.
Vander Plaats launched the Iowa for
Freedom campaign after losing the Republican nomination for governor.
His campaign was heavily financed by out-of-state anti-gay marriage
groups, including the National Organization for Marriage (NOM), the
nation's most vociferous opponent of gay marriage, the Family
Research Council (FRC), and the Christian-based American Family
Association (AFA). NOM had previously worked to repeal gay marriage
laws in California and Maine.
Voters agreed with Vander Plaats on
November 2, axing Chief Justice Marsha Ternus and Justices David
Baker and Michael Streit, three of the seven judges whose 2009
unanimous decision brought gay marriage to the Midwest.
Vander Plaats said he is not looking
for immediate resignations.
“But I do believe those four justices
do need to think about the message that was sent on November 2, and I
believe that they fully realize that if they would have been on that
ballot along with their three other peers that they would have been
voted off too, so as the appointment process takes place, I believe
they need to take a look at a timeline and see if that's something
that they would choose to do, is to step down to make sure that they
honor the court and they don't disrupt the court proceedings by not
having a quorum.”
Iowan voters removed the judges because
“they stepped out of their judicial boundaries and tried to make
law, govern law and amend the constitution from the bench,” he
added.
Vander Plaats is also pressuring
Governor-elect Terry Branstad to end the state's gay marriage law by
executive order, a move Branstad has already rejected.