Wednesday was a difficult day for The American Independent News Network, which is the larger entity that operates The Iowa Independent. Our chief executive and founder announced two of our sister sites would close and their content would be moved to The American Independent.
A recently introduced bill could have far-reaching impact on the U.S. sugar industry, including American Crystal Sugar, a farmer-owned cooperative that locked out 1,300 Midwest workers on Aug. 1.
The chairman for Herman Cain’s Iowa effort says the campaign “relied more on the word of farmers than Washington regulators” in deciding to run an ad containing claims the Environmental Protection Agency says are false.
The Iowa Senate will remain under the control of a slim 26-25 Democratic majority when it reconvenes in January 2012.
Caught in an interesting position between State Sen. Merlin Bartz (R-Grafton) on one side and same-sex marriage advocates on the other, the Iowa ACLU determined today that it would represent any same-sex couples who are denied marriage licenses by a county recorder while also offering to defend the man who is asking county recorders to deny them.
Borrowing from Voltaire, Iowa ACLU Executive Director Ben Stone said in a statement, “This is another instance where the ACLU is literally acting out the old adage: We may disagree with what you are saying, but will vigorously defend your right to say it.”
Bartz has been using the resources of the Senate Republican caucus to ask county officials not to issue same-sex marriage licenses, even after the Iowa Supreme Court’s decision legalizing them goes into effect Monday. That prompted former State Rep. Ed Fallon and his wife, Lynn, to file a formal complaint against Bartz with the Senate Ethics Committee. The Iowa ACLU sees Fallon’s charges as a threat to Bartz’s free speech rights.
That said, the Iowa ACLU, which has long supported marriage rights for same-sex couples, also believes that county recorders are required to comply with the Iowa Supreme Court’s decision regardless of their personal beliefs. If any couples are denied same-sex marriage licenses, the Iowa ACLU will be equally willing to represent them in court, Stone said.
The Alliance Defense Fund, an organization founded by evangelical activists to counterbalance the ACLU, has already offered to defend county recorders against same-sex couples should they choose to defy the court.
Attorney General Tom Miller has issued stern threats that any county recorders who do not comply with the court’s decision will face legal consequences.
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