State Rep. Justin Harris, R-West Fork, said Monday he wants to pursue impeachment of Pulaski County Circuit Judge Chris Piazza, who on Friday struck down Arkansas' gay-marriage ban. But several legislative leaders said they're reluctant to do that.
Gubernatorial candidates from both parties said they oppose efforts to impeach Piazza.
Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe also believes that the proposal is inappropriate, spokesman Matt DeCample said.
"You don't try to impeach or remove a judge just because you disagree with their interpretation of the law. That's what the appeals process is for," DeCample said.
All constitutional officers, judges and prosecuting attorneys are subject to impeachment for "high crimes and misdemeanors and gross misconduct in office" under Article 15, Section 1 and 2, of the state constitution.
In such a case, the House can impeach one of those officials. It is left to the Senate to try the case.
No one has ever been impeached in Arkansas under the current constitution, written in 1874, House Speaker Davy Carter, R-Cabot, said earlier this year.
Harris on Monday reiterated comments that he posted Sunday on Facebook saying a judge could be impeached for "gross misconduct" under Arkansas' Constitution, and gross misconduct "could be defined as ripping a piece of ... our state constitution out and ruling against the will of 75 % of the people of the State of Arkansas!"
"This misconduct is not honoring the oath of office to uphold that constitution," Harris wrote on Facebook.
Arkansas gay-marriage ban is based on laws passed by the Legislature in 1997 and Amendment 83 to the state constitution, which was enacted by popular vote in 2004 and defined marriage as solely the union of a man and a woman. It barred state agencies from recognizing legal same-sex marriages from other states and countries.
Piazza found those prohibitions to be a violation of the U.S. Constitution's guarantee of due process and equal protection in the 14th Amendment, ruling that there's no good reason to bar gay couples from marrying. Piazza noted that the U.S. Supreme Court made that same finding in its 2013 decision that provisions of the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutionally discriminated against legally wed same-sex couples, the ruling that inspired the Arkansas lawsuit and others across the country.
Rep. Bob Ballinger, R-Hindsville, who is an attorney, said Monday that he's talking with other legislators to determine whether it's even feasible to impeach Piazza because "there is a lot of frustration.
"There is no doubt [Piazza's ruling] was the wrong decision. The question is does it rise to the level of impeachment," he said.
Carter said Monday that he's talked with two or three representatives who are interested in pursuing Piazza's impeachment. He declined to name them.
But he said it's "a slippery slope, slippery slope, slippery slope" for the state House of Representatives to impeach a judge based on a particular ruling, and he's opposed to that.
That could easily lead to the impeachment of a judge based on a child-custody case or a domestic-relations case, Carter said. "I don't think you get gross misconduct [based] on a decision. I think that burden is unachievable."
If Piazza's ruling "was wrong," the Arkansas Supreme Court is the appropriate body to decide whether an Arkansas constitutional amendment violates U.S. Constitution, said Carter, a banker and an attorney.
Attorney General Dustin McDaniel, a Democrat, has filed notice that he intends to appeal Piazza's ruling to the state's high court and has asked for a stay of Piazza's ruling.
House Republican leader Bruce Westerman of Hot Springs, who is seeking his party's nomination in the 4th congressional district, said he opposes Piazza's ruling.
"We have a a process to remove bad judges," and Piazza's unopposed in his re-election bid this year, Westerman said. Piazza, a former Pulaski County prosecutor, has been a circuit judge since 1991.
"I don't know that we should set a precedent of impeaching judges based on a ruling, though it was a very bad ruling," Westerman said.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Jeremy Hutchinson, R-Little Rock, who is a lawyer, said he's against impeaching Piazza based on this ruling.
"Anytime you start impeachment based on a ruling, [it] strikes at the integrity of the judiciary, and it sets a bad, bad precedent," he said.
Senate President Pro Tempore Michael Lamoureux, R-Russellville, said he thought Piazza should have stayed his ruling Friday to avoid uncertainty about the legality of the marriage licenses issued to gay couples and alleviate confusion for county clerks across the state.
"Just because that's how I feel doesn't [mean] he should be impeached," said Lamoureux, an attorney.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Asa Hutchinson of Rogers, who is an attorney, said Monday in a written statement that, "While I am clearly disappointed in this ruling, I do not support an impeachment.
"Everyone understands that this is an issue that will ultimately be decided by the Arkansas Supreme Court," he said.
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mike Ross of Little Rock "has always believed marriage is between one man and one woman, but does not believe we should impeach an elected judge every time there is disagreement with his or her decision," spokesman Brad Howard said.
"There is an appeals process currently underway, which will closely review Judge Piazza's decision, and we should let the full judicial process run its course," Howard said.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Curtis Coleman of Little Rock said in written statement that the state House of Representatives shouldn't impeach Piazza on the basis of this ruling.
"We need a system wherein a super-majority of the elected representatives of the people have the ability to override a judicial ruling such as by a 75% vote of the legislature," Coleman said. "Our constitutional republic is foundationally built on 'We the People,' the first and most contemporaneously radical words in the U. S. Constitution for a purpose. The current system shifts the balance of power to the judicial branch, something never intended by the Founders of our country nor the Framers of the Constitution."
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Lynette Bryant could not be reached for comment by telephone Monday afternoon.
Aziza Musa of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette contributed information to this article.
Metro on 05/13/2014
