BOISE — The four minority Democrats on the Idaho Legislature’s House State Affairs Committee voted Monday against legislation that calls on the U.S. Congress to impeach federal judges.
The House State Affairs Committee approved the non-binding state legislation on a party-line vote, with no Republicans during the Monday morning voice vote opposed to the House Joint Memorial. Sponsored by Rep. Paul Shepherd, R-Riggins, the measure — if approved by both the Idaho House and Senate — would be sent to the GOP-controlled Congress.
“Maybe it ends up in the garbage can,” Shepherd said of the Idaho legislation’s possible fate in Washington, D.C.
The list of state lawmakers who voted against the measure included Reps. Elaine Smith, D-Pocatello; John McCrostie, D-Garden City; Paulette Jordan, D-Plummer; and Melissa Wintrow, D-Boise.
Much of the discussion Monday centered on a series of complex October 2014 federal court rulings that effectively overturned Idaho’s ban on same-sex marriage. Idaho voters in the 2006 general election mandated that the definition of marriage should be a union between “one-man, one-woman,” in the Idaho Constitution.
Same-sex marriage currently is legal in Idaho.
“They’re (federal judges) ruling just based on their agenda,” Shepherd charged.
McCrostie — an openly gay legislator who lists Dave Navarro as his partner — said: “This piece of legislation would stand, ultimately, to take away my marriage.”
Shepherd initially during his presentation asserted that federal judges have interpreted the law to their own preferences.
“We have serious problems,” said Shepherd. “The courts just do their own interpretations. They make the law. They changed the law.”
The Shepherd-sponsored legislation states, in part that: “A judge who disregards his oath of office to uphold the law, but rather makes or changes the law, should be impeached by Congress.”
Still, when pressed on technical points of the legislation by Rep. Brent Crane, R-Nampa, Shepherd termed as “redundant” his use of the word “law” in the legislation. Shepherd agreed to Crane’s suggestion to change from law-to-constitution those references to a member of the federal judiciary who, “changes or breaks the law … should be impeached by Congress.”
Wintrow said: “I don’t support this rs (draft legislation) because I believe in checks and balances in our government.”