Photo by Greg Kahn/Getty Images.
Some big news out of Virginia this morning: Mark R. Herring—the new attorney general—plans to no longer defend his state’s ban on same-sex marriage.
In an interview with Morning Edition‘s Steve Inskeep, Herring said that his office will no longer defend Virginia’s ban on same-sex marriage. “As attorney general, I cannot and will not defend laws that violate Virginians’ rights,” Herring said. “The commonwealth will be siding with the plaintiffs in this case and with every other Virginia couple whose right to marry is being denied.”
Herring, a Democrat, was elected into office this past November, and was sworn in just over a week ago along with Va. Governor Terry McAuliffe and Lt. Gov. Ralph S. Northam, also both Democrats. Herring took over office for Ken “The Cooch” Cuccinelli, who staunchly opposed same-sex marriage and ran his campaign vowing to uphold Virginia’s gay marriage ban.
Virginia banned unions between same-sex couples in 2006, with 57 percent of voters supporting the ban. At the time, Herring was one of the state senators who supported the ban. But now, Herring has changed his mind and his office plans to file a supportive brief in the Bostic v. Rainey case that will challenge the state’s ban on same-sex marriage.
“There have been times in some key landmark cases where Virginia was on the wrong side, was on the wrong side of history and on the wrong side of the law,” Herring told Morning Edition. “And as attorney general, I’m going to make sure that the [people] presenting the state’s legal position on behalf of the people of Virginia are on the right side of history and on the right side of the law.”
It’s not yet clear how Virginia’s Republican delegates will attempt to block Herring’s plans, but, unsurprisingly, many are already expressing their disappointment. In a statement on his website, House Speaker William J. Howell said he’s “very concerned about [Herring’s] announcement today and the dangerous precedent it sets with regard to the rule of law.” He added that “the Attorney General has a constitutional and statutory obligation to enforce and defend the duly adopted laws and Constitution of Virginia. This is not an obligation that can be taken lightly. The Attorney General’s decision today demonstrates a great deal of disregard for that obligation, as well as the legislative and democratic processes by which those laws are adopted.”
Same-sex marriage in D.C. was legalized in 2009 and has been legal in Maryland since 2013.
