While this is obviously good news, the sad part about it is the fact that it   
   does nothing to annul the same-sex "marriage" law in Iowa.   
      
   Also, it should be pointed out that in discussing the gay and lesbian   
   minority of Iowa, the following article leaves out one very important word.   
   It is a very UNGODLY minority, who shall have no place in the Kingdom of   
   God, unless they repent of their sins. As the Apostle Paul writes:   
      
   "Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be   
   not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor   
   effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind [homosexuals],"   
   1 Corinthians 6:9, KJV   
      
   Exactly how some people -- including liberal preachers, and the modern,   
   wayward, liberal churches -- ignore the truth of that verse, is beyond me.   
   What is says is as plain as day. There are no unrepentant gays in Heaven.   
   Period.   
      
      
   Ouster of Iowa Judges Sends Signal to Bench   
      
   A same-sex marriage ruling sparked a removal campaign.   
      
   By A. G. SULZBERGER   
      
   November 3, 2010   
      
      
   DES MOINES -- An unprecedented vote to remove three Iowa Supreme Court   
   justices who were part of the unanimous decision that legalized same-sex   
   marriage in the state was celebrated by conservatives as a popular rebuke of   
   judicial overreach, even as it alarmed proponents of an independent   
   judiciary.   
      
   The outcome of the election was heralded both as a statewide repudiation of   
   same-sex marriage and as a national demonstration that conservatives who   
   have long complained about "legislators in robes" are able to effectively   
   target and remove judges who issue unpopular decisions.   
      
   Leaders of the recall campaign said the results should be a warning to   
   judges elsewhere.   
      
   "I think it will send a message across the country that the power resides   
   with the people," said Bob Vander Plaats, an unsuccessful Republican   
   candidate for governor who led the campaign. "It's we the people, not we the   
   courts."   
      
   But critics of the campaign, including those who see the courts as a   
   protector of minority rights, said the politicization of uncontested   
   judicial elections represented a danger.   
      
   "What is so disturbing about this is that it really might cause judges in   
   the future to be less willing to protect minorities out of fear that they   
   might be voted out of office," said Erwin Chemerinsky, the dean of the   
   University of California, Irvine, School of Law. "Something like this really   
   does chill other judges."   
      
   Replacements for the three ousted justices will be appointed by the governor   
   from a slate of candidates nominated by a committee of lawyers and will have   
   to stand for periodic retention votes, a system known as merit selection.   
      
   From its first decision in 1839, the Iowa Supreme Court demonstrated a   
   willingness to push ahead of public opinion on matters of minority rights,   
   ruling against slavery, school segregation and discrimination decades before   
   the national mood shifted toward racial equality.   
      
   That legacy was cited in liberal corners here last year when the   
   seven-member court voted unanimously to strike down a law defining marriage   
   as between a man and a woman, making the state the first in the Midwest to   
   permit same-sex marriage.   
      
   But the risk of leapfrogging -- or ignoring -- public opinion on   
   controversial issues was brought into sharp relief Tuesday when voters chose   
   to remove all three justices who were on the ballot seeking new terms.   
      
   Conservative groups this year launched similar campaigns in a number of the   
   16 states that use merit selection, targeting supreme court justices for   
   rulings on abortion, taxes, tort reform and health care. Unlike the three in   
   Iowa, however, those judges -- in Alaska, Colorado, Kansas, Illinois and   
   Florida -- were all re-elected.   
      
   The number of challenges and the success of the effort in Iowa has caused   
   some concern that retention elections designed to be as apolitical as   
   possible are becoming as bitterly contested as other races. This year far   
   more was spent on campaigns in retention elections than was spent in the   
   entire previous decade, according to the Brennan Center for Justice at New   
   York University Law School.   
      
   The ouster was reminiscent of a retention election in California in 1986   
   that led to the removal of three Supreme Court justices who were portrayed   
   as opposing the death penalty.   
      
   "Obviously it has an impact on the independence of judges and how they think   
   of their role -- I think that's demonstrable," said Joseph R. Grodin, a law   
   professor who was one of the three California judges who lost a re-election   
   bid. "But more than that," he continued, "I think the damage is not on   
   judges, but that courts will come to be seen and judges will come to be seen   
   as simply legislators with robes."   
      
   The most sustained effort to oust judges in this election cycle was in Iowa,   
   where out-of-state organizations opposed to gay marriage, including the   
   National Organization for Marriage and the American Family Association,   
   poured money into the removal campaign. Judges face no opponents in   
   retention elections and simply need to win more yes votes than no votes to   
   go on to another eight-year term. In Iowa, the three ousted justices did not   
   raise campaign money, and they only made public appearances defending   
   themselves toward the end of the election.   
      
   Each of the three justices -- Marsha K. Ternus, the chief justice; Michael   
   J. Streit; and David L. Baker -- received about 45 percent of the vote,   
   making this the first time members of the state's high court had been   
   rejected by voters. The 71 lower court judges on the ballot all easily won   
   re-election.   
      
   The justices' removal will have no effect on same-sex marriage, which will   
   remain the law.   
      
   The judges declined requests for interviews but released a statement that   
   decried what they called "an unprecedented attack by out-of-state special   
   interest groups." The statement defended the system for selecting judges but   
   offered what a veiled warning about populist impulses to remake the   
   judiciary: "Ultimately, however, the preservation of our state's fair and   
   impartial courts will require more than the integrity and fortitude of   
   individual judges, it will require the steadfast support of the people."   
      
   The defeat was a bitter disappointment to much of the legal community here,   
   which rallied behind the justices, and it was viewed with particular concern   
   in the gay community, which has found state courts more sympathetic than   
   state legislatures.   
      
   "A lot of time we start in the courts because they're there to protect the   
   minority against the tyranny of the majority," said Carolyn Jenisen,   
   executive director of One Iowa, an organization supporting gay rights,   
   "Because they're there to make tough decisions without regard to popular   
   opinion."   
      
      
      
   Jeff Snyder, SysOp - Armageddon BBS  Visit us at endtimeprophecy.org port 23   
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