Litigation

Dueling Statements in IA Ouster Campaign

By Peter Hardin

Shortly after Iowa’s chief justice defended the state’s court system, a leading advocate for ousting three state Supreme Court justices in retention elections fired back.

Former GOP gubernatorial candidate Bob Vander Plaats said Iowa’s merit selection system for selecting judges provides for a retention (up-or-down) election that is not intended as a rubber stamp, according to KCCI TV report.

“If that retention vote was just to be a rubber stamp and say ‘We approve of the judges as a pat on the back,’ well how ridiculous is that?” Vander Plaats said.

He and some other conservative activists are unhappy with the state Supreme Court’s ruling that legalized same-sex marriage. Vander Plaats said the court had the authority to declare existing Iowa law unconstitutional, but it should have sent back the issue to the legislature with directions to take action, the Des Moines Register reported.

Earlier last week, Iowa Chief Justice Marsha Ternus defended the state’s court system and contended that when courts and politics are mixed, it brings “poor results.” The retention election system took effect almost 50 years ago, she said, and only four judges have been removed through it, proving the selection method’s effectiveness, she said.

The drive to oust three Supreme Court justices–including the chief justice–in retention elections has sparked national attention. A national conservative organization, American Family Association, says it already has pumped ?a couple of hundred thousand dollars? into the ouster campaign. Learn more in Gavel Grab.

Full post as published by The Gavel on September 13, 2010 (boomark / email).