Brad Zaun: Against Retention of Iowa Supreme Court Justices, For a Federal Marriage Amendment

In my interview with State Senator Brad Zaun (R-Urbandale), the Republican challenger to incumbent Congressman Leonard Boswell in Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District Race, we discussed the upcoming retention vote on three of the seven Iowa Supreme Court justices.  I noted Congressman Steve King’s op/ed over the weekend that called for their removal and wanted to hear his thoughts even though it is a state, not a federal, issue.  State Senator Zaun said:

I will be doing the exactly the same thing.  It’s not personal for me.  I’ve met some of the justices and I’m on the judiciary committee.  What they have done I think is clearly unconstitutional.  The intent of the Iowa Code defines a marriage between one man and one woman.  They have decided to legislate their personal views from the bench and I think that is unconstitutional, and I will be voting against the three justices that are up on the ballot.

Looking at the issue of same-sex marriage from a federal perspective, Zaun notes that not only does he believe we should have a Federal Marriage Amendment defining marriage to be between one man and one woman; he would also co-sponsor that bill.  He said that even though he is for local control in most situations activist judges “are going against the clear intent of the people” citing what recently happened in California when a federal district judge declared part of the California Constitution unconstitutional.