Anchorage Daily News, News
Author Not Stated (Source: Associated Press [AP]), 30/12/2006
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COGHILL, KELLY BLAST COURT, GOVERNOR FOR ACTIONS ON GAY BENEFITS Anchorage Daily News, News Author Not Stated (Source: Associated Press [AP]), 30/12/2006 |
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FAIRBANKS, Alaska - Two Interior legislators harshly criticized the Alaska Supreme Court for "judicial activism" in forcing the state to extend employment benefits to same-sex partners.
House Majority Leader John Coghill, R-North Pole, and Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Fairbanks, also had harsh words Friday for Gov. Sarah Palin for complying with the court's order. "The people of Alaska are sound asleep on this and they better wake up," Kelly said Friday at a luncheon of the Interior Republicans. Coghill said he would introduce legislation to strip benefits from everyone - including spouses of married state employees - and make them pay their own way. "That's the only solution we've got," he said. He added that he would be open to discussion of having Supreme Court justices elected rather than appointed. The two lawmakers said they wished Palin, a fellow Republican, had defied the Supreme Court order forcing the state to provide employment, insurance and retirement benefits to same-sex partners. Rep. Jay Ramras, R-Fairbanks, also spoke. He said he shared the convictions of the other two on the issue but not their passion. Coghill, who has actively opposed the benefits, acknowledged that a refusal to comply with the order could have placed the governor or a commissioner in contempt of court, but said that someone going to jail would have made Alaskans pay attention to the issue. |
Kelly, in a guest column published in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, said the governor should have stood up to the court despite the chance that it would lead to a "constitutional crisis."
He said after the luncheon that he thought the Alaska Supreme Court misinterpreted the Alaska Constitution and was acting against the will of the governor, the public, and the Legislature, which refused to provide the benefits during a special session last month. Justices used a "tortured" reading of the constitution to carry out their wishes, he said. The Supreme Court in late 2005 ruled that same-sex partners of state employees and retirees deserved the same benefits as married spouses, even though the couples could not legally marry in Alaska. Justices pointed to the constitution's equal protection clause, which states that "all persons are equal and entitled to equal rights, opportunities, and protection under the law." Kelly said he still hoped the governor would block the benefits, which are scheduled to start Jan. 1. He said he would do whatever he could to stop them when the legislative session started next month. He said he did not support Coghill's idea to pull benefits from married couples. Coghill also vowed to keep fighting. "I'll go down in flames," he said, "because this court is off base."
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