Litigation

Group Launches IA Voter Education Effort

By Peter Hardin

A group defending Iowa’s court system is kicking off a campaign to educate voters about retention elections and how to be informed about the 74 judges and justices up for re-election votes in November.

In one of the hottest retention elections in recent history, three state Supreme Court justices are facing opposition from social conservatives over the court’s ruling that legalized same-sex marriage in the state.

Iowans for Fair and Impartial Courts has launched a new website with information about the retention (up-or-down) election process, intended to help protect the courts from politics, and about judges who are facing retention votes. In addition, a radio ad promoting the website will be aired.

Former Iowa Gov. Bob Ray said in a statement issued by IFIC, “Voters can do their part in preventing special interest and campaign donations from influencing our courts by becoming informed about judges who are up for retention.”

Meanwhile the retention election for the three targeted justices is a “tossup,” with 44 percent of Iowans who plan to vote saying they will vote ‘yes’ and 40 percent saying they will vote for removal, according to a Des Moines Register poll and article. Sixteen percent said they want to keep some of the justices.

“Those poll numbers are stunning,” said Brian T. Fitzpatrick, a Vanderbilt University associate law professor. “It is virtually unheard-of for a judge to lose a retention race.”

Indiana University law professor Charles Geyh warned that justice’s ouster in Iowa could politicize the courts, and judges might be reticent to make unpopular rulings.

A USA Today article about the elections was headlined, “Three Iowa justices may face voters’ retaliation.” In the article, Charles Hall, communications director for the Justice at Stake Campaign, noted how Iowa’s retention battle is part of an unusual movement also occurring in three other states: Illinois, Colorado and Kansas.

Supporters of Iowa’s court system, where judges are chosen through a merit-based selection system, say that urging a vote based on a politically controversial ruling threatens fair and impartial courts. An Iowa State Bar Association video about the merit selection system, narrated in part by former Gov. Ray, a Republican, is available from the ISBA website.

Full post as published by The Gavel on October 05, 2010 (boomark / email).