Litigation

Defending IA Judicial Independence, Part II

By Peter Hardin

Another Iowa newspaper editorial has taken issue with  recent unsuccessful efforts in the legislature to move to direct election of state Supreme Court justices.

The Iowa City Press-Citizen editorial made a strong case for protecting judicial independence. It depicted increased talk in favor of direct election of judges as a direct response to the Iowa Supreme Court’s ruling that recognized same-sex marriage. It then highlighted  remarks by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. about unpopular judicial decisions:

“[No] one should judge a judge’s legal ability on the basis of any single controversial decision.

“As U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts said in an address to the American Law Institute in 2006, ‘It is important to distinguish between informed criticism of judicial decisions and attacks on judges — collateral attacks because of disagreement with their decisions.’ After all, Roberts continued, judging ‘requires courage because judges often have to make unpopular decisions.’”

The editorial concluded that “maintaining the current system for selecting and retaining judges will allow Iowans to maintain the independence of the state’s judiciary.”

You can read about a similar Des Moines Register editorial in Gavel Grab by clicking here.

Iowa judges  are chosen by a merit selection process. The governor appoints judges from a list of candidates provided by a nominating commission; judges later face up-or-down votes in retention elections. You can read about comments by Iowa?s chief justice in an earlier Gavel Grab post, and about appointment-and-retention systems from Justice at Stake?s issues page explaining how they work.

Full post as published by The Gavel on March 18, 2010 (boomark / email).