Here's the latest from the Republicans in Iowa desperate to do away with the state's marriage equality law.
County recorders would be prohibited from issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples and the Iowa Supreme Court would be unable to rule on the issue under a bill sponsored by six conservative House Republicans.
House File 330 specifically says that the Supreme Court would not be able to overturn or restrict the law if the bill were passed.
Review of laws by the Iowa Supreme Court is one of the fundamental pieces of the state's system of checks and balances, and such a provision faces intense legal hurdles.
A spokesman for Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller said the bill is unquestionably unconstitutional.
Although a provision Iowa law appears to give lawmakers the ability to pass measures not subject to Supreme Court review, Drake University Law School professor Ian Bartrum believes that option to be highly flawed:
"It's technically probably constitutional, but it's a pretty rare and radical step and probably an ill-advised one," said Bartrum. "I think this is a knee-jerk reaction. They say, we have this power, and they don't think about what this means to the outcome on the ground."
That possible outcome: Iowans could challenge a recorder's decision in trial courts, but those decisions could not be appealed to the Iowa Supreme Court.
That would make the lower court ruling final and would mean Iowa could become a patchwork of counties in which some recognized the law and others did not.
Bill aims to bar gay marriage, review by court [des moines register]
