Litigation

IA Judicial Ouster Effort: ?A Perversion?

By Peter Hardin

Is an emerging effort to unseat three Iowa Supreme Court justices in retention elections a democratic exercise–or a perversion of it?

The Des Moines Register editorial board has offered an impassioned answer in an editorial headlined, “Public opinion can’t decide court cases.” The editorial defends Iowa’s merit selection system for choosing judges and denounces an effort that is growing to deny re-election to three justices over the court’s decision to legalize same-sex marriages (see Gavel Grab):

“It would be a perversion of the retention-election process…to use it to fire judges for rulings voters find objectionable. Take that wrongheaded idea far enough, and we might just as well have a public referendum on every case that goes to court. And, while we’re at it, throw out the constitutional protections for individual rights. Indeed, the job of judge is to make decisions, which in almost every case will displease one side or the other. We do not want judges taking public-opinion polls before ruling.”

The editorial says it is time for defenders to respond “to those who would wreck Iowa’s admirable judicial system,” and it suggests that emerging campaigns to unseat three justices pose a “golden opportunity” for supporters of merit selection “to launch a statewide campaign to educate the electorate on why politics must be kept out of the judicial process.”

Meanwhile a commentary in the same newspaper by Rekha Basu states that in 48 years, Iowans have voted out only four judges, in each case over “perceptions of misconduct.” Basu warns, “[T]he growing politicization of anti-judge efforts threatens judicial independence. It could frighten judges who want to keep their seats from making sound rulings that may be unpopular.”

The latest developments have included an announcement by former Republican candidate for governor Bob Vander Plaats that he would lead an effort to deny re-election to the three justices, and an announcement of a formal group with a mission to unseat the justices, called Common Sense PAC.

According to an article in the Iowa Republican, Vander Plaats has announced a new website, named IowaFamilyValues.com, paid for by AFA Political Action. The acronym stands for American Family Association, the article said. Last week, that group called for impeachment of federal district Judge Vaughn R. Walker over his striking down California’s ban on same-sex marriages (see Gavel Grab).

The Iowa Republican said its Battleground poll showed the following reaction when voters were asked whether they would vote to retain the three justices: 40 percent said they favored retaining the justices, 27 percent said they would vote against retaining them, and 31 percent were undecided.

However, a separate question asked respondents how they would vote if they knew the justices had voted to legalize same-sex marriage. The results: 44 percent said they would support retention, 47 percent said they would vote against retention and eight percent were undecided.

Full post as published by The Gavel on August 09, 2010 (boomark / email).