Md. scuttles attempt to impeach AG over same-sex marriage
- By Aaron C. Davis | March 31, 2010
Original Story via The Washington Post
Over raucous objections from Maryland Republicans, House Speaker Michael E. Busch (D) sidestepped an attempt Wednesday by Del. Don H. Dwyer (R-Anne Arundel) to call a vote on whether to impeach Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler (D) for directing Maryland agencies to recognize same-sex marriages performed elsewhere.
Despite a Maryland State Trooper stationed outside the chamber in tactical gear and Dwyer’s vows to not “go down without a fight,” the episode ended without any of the physical confrontation to which Dwyer had previously alluded, and that had attracted at least six television news crews and more than two dozen reporters to the chamber.
At the episode’s apex, Dwyer yelled that Busch was out of order. “This is wrong, this is wrong, Mr. Speaker, and I object.” Busch then banged his gavel and dispensed with the ultimatum with a procedural decision to refer the matter to the chamber’s Judiciary Committee.
The move, which appeared to set a precedent and that Republicans maintained usurped the authority of House members to vote up or down on articles of impeachment, all but assured the demise of the impeachment attempt.
Judiciary Committee Chairman Joseph F. Vallario (D-Prince George’s) scheduled a hearing on Dwyer’s resolution for 3 p.m. But a majority of the committee members support legalizing same-sex marriage, and members in recent months have repeatedly voted down attempts to preclude Maryland from recognizing same-sex marriages from other states.
Some of the members also stood up during Wednesday’s debate to say they support the attorney general’s opinion that he cannot be impeached without a conviction by a court of law.
On the floor, the ordeal ended on an anticlimactic 39 to 101 vote that in effect supported Busch’s decision to move the impeachment charges off the floor and into committee.
