Idaho House asks Supreme Court to overturn gay marriage decision
BOISE — The Idaho House voted Monday to call on the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the right to gay marriage.
Members voted 46-24 to approve House Joint Memorial 1, which if approved by the Senate, would send a letter to the nation’s high court asking it to “restore the natural definition of marriage, a union of one man and one woman.” It does not change Idaho’s current laws around marriage.
“This is to restore federalism, calling for the issue of marriage laws to the states, not to the federal government,” memorial sponsor Rep. Heather Scott, R-Blanchard, said Monday.
The target of the memorial is the high court’s 2015 decision Obergefell v Hodges, which legalized same-sex marriage nationwide. If passed by both chambers, the memorial calls on the Legislature to ask the court to overturn the ruling.
House Minority Leader Ilana Rubel, D-Boise, countered the idea that the memorial was about “states’ rights.”
“It actually calls for the Supreme Court to declare that, from coast to coast, essentially the union is between a man and a woman,” Rubel said. “So this is not about deferring it to states’ rights. It’s about coming up with a new judicially declared mandate.”
Rubel argued that there are many rights provided by the federal government and the Supreme Court, and highlighted the 1967 Loving v Virginia decision that legalized interracial marriage nationwide.
Rep. Todd Achilles, D-Boise, also debated against the bill, arguing it was a waste of time and resources because the memorial itself didn’t do anything.
“This is really, at the end of the day, nothing more than a grumpy letter, but with our names on it,” Achilles said.
Rep. Clint Hostetler, R-Twin Falls, debated in favor, saying it was “the right thing to do.”
“So whether today’s discussion is just meaningless or pointless, I don’t see it that way,” Hostetler said. “I see it as the vital fabric to our society, that being the families, and everyone knows marriage is the linchpin to that.”
Idaho’s Constitution states that marriage between a man and a woman is the “only domestic legal union” the state would recognize. However, in 2014, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Latta v Otter ruled that Idaho’s law barring same-sex marriage was unconstitutional.
Sue Latta, the plaintiff in that case, testified in opposition to the memorial during a nearly two-hour-long committee hearing last week, the Idaho Press previously reported.
The memorial passed the House with 15 Republicans joining Democrats to oppose it.
The joint memorial will now head to the Senate.
How they voted
District 1 (Bonners Ferry, Sandpoint, Sagle)
Nay — Rep. Mark Sauter (R) — (208) 332-1035
Aye — Rep. Cornel Rasor (R) — (208) 332-1185
District 2 (Spirit Lake, Athol, Silver Valley)
Aye — Rep. Heather Scott (R) — (208) 332-1190
Aye — Rep. Dale R. Hawkins (R) — (208) 332-1070
District 3 (Rathdrum, Hayden)
Aye — Rep. Vito Barbieri (R) — (208) 332-1177
Aye — Rep. Jordan Redman (R) — (208) 332-1180
District 4 (Coeur d’Alene)
Aye — Rep. Joe Alfieri (R) — (208) 332-1065
Aye — Rep. Elaine Price (R) — (208) 332-1048
District 5 (Post Falls, Rockford Bay, Worley)
Aye — Rep. Ron Mendive (R) — (208) 332-1040
Aye — Rep. Tony Wisniewski (R) — (208) 332-1060