Facebook, Carl Marlinga
Former judge Carl Marlinga is running for Congress in the 10th District.
Carl Marlinga, the apparent frontrunner in the Democratic primary for a new U.S. House seat in Macomb and Oakland counties, previously aligned himself with conservative U.S. Supreme Court justices in a survey from an anti-abortion group.
Marglina filled out the Right to Life-LIFESPAN survey in 2012 when he was a candidate for Macomb County Probate Court judge and indicated that the justices who most possess a judicial philosophy similar to his own were Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas, uncompromising conservatives who were appointed by Republican presidents.
Thomas joined the conservative majority in a draft opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court decision that made abortion legal in 1973. Scalia died in February 2016.
Marlinga is running for Congress in the newly drawn 10th District, which covers Warren, Sterling Heights, Clinton Township, and Shelby township in Macomb County and Rochester and Rochester Hills in Oakland County.
Several polls have shown Marlinga is the frontrunner.
Marlinga tells Metro Times that he selected the two justices because he has “always been a strict constitutionalist” judicially. But, he emphasized, he is pro-choice and disagrees with the Supreme Court’s majority opinion on abortion.
“My constitutional support for pro-choice rests solely on the wording of the Fourth Amendment, which holds that the right of the people to be secure in their persons shall not be violated,” he says.
Marlinga adds, “A plain reading of the Fourth Amendment protects the people in their ‘persons.’ It is inescapable that that means a woman's right to control her health and reproductive choices.”
When the draft opinion was leaked earlier this month, Marlinga tweeted that overturning Roe v. Wade “has serious consequences.”
“It's an enormous and unacceptable step back for our country,” Marlinga said. “In MI this reinstates law that makes it a felony with NO EXCEPTION for rape/incest. In Washington, I will do everything to protect a woman's right to choose.”
Some of Marlinga’s primary opponents struck back, saying his support of conservative justices is a red flag.
“It’s obvious that the voters can’t trust Mr. Marlinga’s position on abortion, reproductive rights or a woman’s right to make her own health care decisions,” Sterling Heights City Councilman and former state representative Henry Yanez tells Metro Times. “I have a clear and documented record that I am pro-choice. Voters also have to wonder what other issues Mr. Marlinga is ‘conveniently flexible.’”
Warren City Councilwoman Angela Rogensues, who is also running in the primary, says Marlinga’s alignment with conservative justices is troubling.
"Carl Marlinga's alignment with some of the most extreme Supreme Court justices in this country's history is incredibly alarming,” her campaign manager Austin Lyle tells Metro Times. “Justice Alito's draft opinion overturning Roe underscores just how out of touch this judicial philosophy is with reality. By aligning himself with extremists like Justices Thomas and Scalia, Mr. Marlinga is siding with the same justices who want to ban abortion, helped gut the Voting Rights Act, and voted against same-sex marriage."
Also running in the primary are Rhonda Powell, a former county health and community services director, and Huwaida Arraf, a progressive activist and lawyer.
Marlinga, who served two decades as Macomb County prosecutor, ran for Congress in 2002 but lost. During the campaign, he was accused of helping a man get a new rape trial in exchange for contributions. A federal jury acquitted him in 2006.
The 10th District race is expected to be highly competitive for Democrats and Republicans.
On the Republican side, two-time losing U.S. Senate candidate John James is running.
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