Iowa Judicial Retention Vote: Supreme Court Justices ousted over gay marriage ruling

All three Supreme Court Justices up for retention on the Nov. 2 ballot were voted out for their decision in 2009 allowing same-sex marriage in Iowa.  Below is a link to my article on AlterNet about this issue, politicking from the pulpit and a well oiled and funded national anti-gay machine with all the usual suspects:  FOF/FRC/NOM/AFA.

The Iowa Independent reported this morning that Bob VanderPlaats — the initial force behind the “no” on retention vote and three time gubernatorial candidate — spoke on Radio Iowa last night regarding the “no” victory:

“History’s being made,” and, “Iowans who have a great level of common sense and a measured response, the more they learned about this issue, the more they understood about this issue, the more they were willing to vote no because they saw an activist court that was wanted to make law from the bench and they knew that wasn’t their role,” he said. “Their voice was never heard on the same-sex marriage issue.”

Vander Plaats said later that, “the rest of the country is going to hear our voice.”

Des Moines Register Columnist Rekha Basu writes of the “no” decision in her op-ed titled Justice Not Served by Vengeful Ouster:

“Eventually same sex-marriage will be accepted everywhere and future generations will wonder what the fuss was about. But because of a vengeful vote, that seemed all but certain at press time, judges now have to worry about the payback with every controversial ruling they make.”