Md. Gov. Stacks Court To Protect Same-Sex Marriage Law

In a disturbing revelation, it appears that Maryland’s governor has tainted the state’s highest court with undue political prejudice by appointing judges that will help uphold a controversial law that he supports.

Information about this unscrupulous arrangement comes from a very reliable source, Maryland Attorney General Doug Gansler, the man twice elected to uphold and defend the state’s laws. Instead it appears that he’s colluding with the governor, Democrat Martin O’Malley, in a scheme to protect a recently passed law allowing same-sex marriage from being challenged by voters.

Groups that oppose the measure have announced plans to challenge it by collecting enough signatures to put the issue to voters in a November referendum. If they succeed, the law, which will be signed by O’Malley this week, will likely face a court battle. That essentially leaves its fate up to Maryland judges.

Evidently, the O’Malley Administration has prepared for this. In a public speech to a group of same-sex marriage activists last fall, Gansler revealed a secret plan by Governor O’Malley to stack the state’s Court of Appeals with judges who would rule against any referendum upholding traditional marriage.

A video of the speech is included in an article published this week by a news syndicate that often breaks important stories ignored by the mainstream media. Undoubtedly, this is one of them. Regardless of one’s views on same-sex marriage, this is a huge scandal on many levels, as the article, written by a Harvard-graduate specializing in public policy, outlines.

Let’s start with a governor secretly picking judges that will guarantee the outcome of a decision in a court case that, at the time, wasn’t even on the docket. Secondly, the attorney general appears to be colluding with this corrupt scheme even though his job is to defend existing law, in this case upholding traditional marriage.

At the very least Gansler’s public comments are an affront to the legal system he supposedly represents, according to the story. The plan is also a huge slap in the face for a judicial selection system designed to be less politicized than the notoriously political process utilized in picking federal judges. In Maryland it relies on an independent judicial commission to create a list of candidates based on their legal qualifications.

In the meantime O’Malley is on a roll strategically placing his like-minded pals on the bench. Shortly before the Christmas break, the governor filled 10 judicial seats, including a spot on the state’s top court. More are expected since there are at least three district court seats in Prince George’s County. Read about them and their respective backgrounds in this local newspaper story.