An Orange County Superior Court judge, responding publicly for the first time to an effort to remove him from the bench, says the recall petition is an “attack on judicial independence.”

“I took an oath to uphold the Constitution, not appease politicians,” Judge M. Marc Kelly said in a one-page statement he filed with the Orange County Registrar of Voters.

“A judge who doesn’t follow the Constitution today won’t follow it tomorrow when your rights are at stake.”

Kelly defended his integrity and urged voters not to sign the petition, describing the recall as a waste of taxpayer money.

Kelly sparked national outrage April 3 when he cut 15 years off a minimum sentence for Kevin Jonas Rojano-Nieto, 20, who was convicted in December of sodomizing a 3-year-old girl.

The crime carried a mandatory sentence of 25 years to life in prison, but the judge determined the punishment in the case was unconstitutional and reduced the sentence to 10 years in prison.

Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas is appealing the sentencing.

Separately, crime victims’ advocates and members of the Orange County Board of Supervisors are trying to remove Kelly from the bench.

The group launched its recall effort May 1, serving Kelly with a petition containing 40 signatures, including those of supervisors Todd Spitzer, Michelle Steel and Shawn Nelson.

Bryan Scott, founder of the Recall Judge M. Marc Kelly campaign, said Tuesday that judicial independence isn’t a license to ignore the law.

“(Kelly’s) response and lack of compassion for crime victims, especially children, showcases the importance of his immediate removal from the bench,” Scott said.

Once the Registrar of Voters approves the petition, the committee will have 160 days to collect a minimum of 90,829 verifiable signatures to force a special election.

Kelly, in his response, said the recall effort would cost taxpayers $2.3 million.

Registrar of Voters Neal Kelley previously said a special election would cost between $1.9 and $2.4 million depending on the number of registered voters at the time.

Kelly, appointed to the bench in 2000 by Gov. Gray Davis, once served as an Orange County prosecutor.

He noted that he received the Victim Witness Outstanding Prosecutor award and has “sent hundreds of violent criminals to prison.”

While Kelly has critics, he also has supporters. Attorney Paul Meyer, president of the Orange County Criminal Defense Bar Association, said Kelly was a tough prosecutor and is a tough judge.

The public should let the appellate process do its job, he said.

“Threatening a judge with recall over an unpopular decision currently on appeal is an attempt to intimidate all judges,” Meyer said in a statement.

Spitzer, a leader in the effort to recall Kelly, said an appeal could increase the prison sentence for Rojano-Nieto, but it wouldn’t hold Kelly accountable.

“The heart of the matter is that Judge Kelly should not be able to sit on the bench,” Spitzer said.

While mandatory minimum sentences have been challenged in some cases, most often in drug crimes, legal experts say it’s rare for a judge to challenge a mandatory minimum sentence in a sex crime.

Rojano-Nieto’s mandatory minimum sentence was set under Jessica’s Law, which was approved by voters in 2006.

The law increased penalties for sex offenders.

Dan Klerman, a law professor at USC, said Kelly was right to note that judges have a responsibility to uphold the U.S. Constitution, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he made the right decision in this case.

Petitioners should wait for the outcome in appellate court before they move to recall Kelly, Klerman said.

“The appellate court is really in the best position to determine whether he exercised good legal judgment in interpreting the Constitution,” he said.