FRC Action 'Judge Bus Tour' Ends in Victory as Iowa Voters Reject Activist Judges

WASHINGTON, Nov. 3, 2010 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- FRC Action, the legislative action arm of the Family Research Council, today praised Iowa voters for rejecting judicial activism by voting not to retain three Iowa Supreme Court justices. The three justices, David L. Baker, Michael J. Streit, and Marsha Ternus, were among the seven justices who ruled in April 2009 that the Iowa Constitution guarantees a right to same-sex "marriage." Baker, Streit, and Ternus were the first justices to face a retention election since the ruling in the case of Varnum vs. Brien. Majorities of 54%, 54%, and 55%, respectively, voted "no" on whether they should be retained in office.

FRC Action and the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) last week sponsored a "judge bus tour" of Iowa, riding across the state in a rolling billboard calling for a "no" vote on retention, and making twenty whistle-stop events to publicize the importance of removing the three justices from office. Former Senator Rick Santorum, U.S. Rep. Steve King (R-IA), U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert, FRC Action President Tony Perkins, and NOM President Brian Brown were joined by local officials, state legislators, and Iowa pro-family activists as they traveled the state.

FRC Action President Tony Perkins released the following statement today regarding the vote not to retain the three justices:

"The people of Iowa have reclaimed their right to govern themselves, under a Constitution whose meaning is clear, by removing these three activist judges from power. If judges want to legislate, they should resign and run for office - not exploit their positions on the bench to reshape law and society as they wish.

"The role of a judge is to read in the Constitution what is actually written there, not to read into the Constitution a radical political and social agenda.

"The results of Tuesday's election show clearly that Americans do not wish to be ruled by an arrogant elite that thinks it knows better than the people what is good for our country. That applies as well to judges who would overthrow the natural definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman."

SOURCE Family Research Council Action