Litigation

ABA Chief: IA Merit System ?Not Ideal?

By Peter Hardin

American Bar Association President Stephen N. Zack suggests stripping special interest money of its influence and extending judicial terms as ways to address the problems illustrated by Iowa’s most recent retention election.

On Election Day, voters ousted three Iowa Supreme Court justices in a backlash over a high court ruling that permitted same-sex marriages in the state. Here are Zack’s top recommendations, taken from a commentary in the Des Moines Register:

“First, the corrosive effect of big money in judicial elections must be addressed. It is unacceptable that groups of all political stripes, often without any clear identification of donors, poured more than $13 million into state judicial races across the country. It’s time for the public to come together, calling out third party groups that try to buy a place on the courts for their opinions and creating public pressure against this kind of secret influence.

“Second, Iowa’s system of merit selection and nonpartisan retention elections is better than some states but not ideal. When a hot issue occurs in the middle of a retention cycle, the debate rhetoric can run even hotter. Terms of service that run until a judge reaches a specified age are best. States with retention systems could cool things off by extending the terms as long as possible. The American Bar Association recommends 15 years. Iowa Supreme Court terms currently are only eight years. Longer terms make it easier for judges to concentrate on the job at hand rather than a looming election.”

The Iowa ouster vote, Zack said, sent a “wake-up call to all Americans who believe that Lady Justice should not remove her blindfold and stick her finger in the air to see which way the wind is blowing.” He added, “Working together, we will preserve the dream of America’s founding fathers: that our courts must be free of all forms of intimidation in order to protect our liberty.”

In other coverage of the Iowa vote, Dr. Richard G. Lee writes in the Dallas Blog about some of the players who were instrumental in organizing and building the anti-retention effort.

A KCCI report examines what the next steps will be in selecting three successor justices. An article in the Iowa Independent reported that the Southern Poverty Law Center is bestowing its “hate group” designation on the American Family Association and the Family Research Council, groups that played a role in the Iowa ouster drive.

The ABA is a partner of Justice at Stake. You can learn more about the Iowa election from Gavel Grab.

Full post as published by The Gavel on November 24, 2010 (boomark / email).