Litigation

More Brickbats for IA Impeachment Proposal

By Peter Hardin

A current president and a former head of the Iowa Bar Association are among the latest leaders to sound off over attempts proposed to remove four justices from the Iowa Supreme Court.

“Calling for the resignation or impeachment of the Iowa Supreme Court justices is destructive rabble rousing at its worst and threatens the very heart of our constitution,” the group’s current leader, Frank Carroll, wrote in a Des Moines Register commentary.

He was discussing calls for the resignation or possible impeachment of the entire court that was left left standing after three justices were denied re-election Nov. 2; their terms expired at the end of December. Angry voters dumped the three justices who were on a retention election ballot. The vote followed an ouster campaign centered on the high court’s unanimous decision that legalized same-sex marriages (details in Gavel Grab).

In a separate Des Moines Register column, former president Dan Moore got personal. He said he was “a friend and former adviser on three of Bob Vander Plaats’ campaigns.” Vander Plaats was a prominent leader of the ouster drive. He has called for the four remaining justices to resign and mentioned impeachment as an alternative. Moore went on:

“Bob is obsessed with the gay-marriage issue. He is so obsessed that he would rather see the Iowa judicial system destroyed, instead of pursuing a change in the law within the channels provided (a constitutional amendment)…The Iowa judicial branch has a long history of exceptional service, distinguished and acclaimed decisions – and now it is being raked through the mud, disparaged, criticized and harangued daily.”

“Justice should not be for sale. Justice should not be based upon which way the political winds may be blowing.”

In the Mason City Globe Gazette, columnist John Skipper wrote a commentary that was headlined, “Officials should forget about ousting justices.” He explained, “Justices aren’t supposed to follow the will of the people. They’re supposed to uphold constitutional principles which, in the same-sex marriage case, meant equal protection under the law.”

Meanwhile a Radio Iowa report said the time it takes to replace the ousted justices will slow down the work of the court.

Full post as published by The Gavel on January 03, 2011 (boomark / email).