Former Iowa Justice, Attorney Warn Against Politicizing Judicial Retention

From The Iowa City Press-Citizen and Alliance Defense Fund:

Former justice, attorney warn against politicizing judge retention


Lee Hermiston • Iowa City Press-Citizen • September 30, 2010



Comments (3) Recommend Print this page E-mail this article Share

Del.icio.us Facebook Digg Reddit Newsvine Buzz up!

Twitter FarkIt Type Size A A A A former Iowa Supreme Court Justice and a University of Iowa College of Law professor warned potential voters against the potential dangers of bringing politics into judge retentions.









Linda Neuman, an Iowa Supreme Court Justice from 1986-2003, and law professor John Whiston spoke for an hour on the subject Thursday at League of Women Voters forum that was organized with help from Iowans for Fair and Impartial Courts.





At issue is a political movement to unseat Iowa Supreme Court justices by way of the retention election in November. Making judge retention a political issue could undermine the state’s court system, Whiston warned, speaking only for himself and not as a representative of the university.





“We want judges to enforce the rule of law,” he said. “If we always have judges looking over their shoulders at what the lawyers think or the voters think, they’re not enforcing the rule of law…It’d be a terrible thing to happen to Iowa.”





Some have also called for a change in how judges in Iowa are selected. Since 1962, Iowa has used a merit system to select judges and prevent politics from entering the process. Nominees are selected through a nominating commission made up of lawyers and non-lawyers appointed by the governor.





Neuman said candidates are thoroughly vetted by the committee, who look for qualities such as competence, intellectual ability, a reputation for fairness and integrity and a dedication to a life of public service.





“Which is really what being a judge is all about,” she said.





The governor the ultimately selects one of the candidates. Neuman said at that point, its impossible for the governor to screw up the decision since all of the candidates have gone through the rigorous nomination process.





Whiston said the driving force behind the movement to unseat the judges and change the selection process comes from those opposed to the April 2009 Varnum v. Brien Supreme Court Opinion which stated denying rights to homosexual couples violated the state’s constitution. While opponents to the decision say it’s radical, Whiston said the decision is consistent with the state’s enforcement of judicial review and ensuring equal rights to all Iowans.





So, how should voters choose whether to retain a judge? Neuman said on Friday the Iowa State Bar Association will release the results of a survey of thousands of lawyers in Iowa which rates the judges at each level of Iowa’s court system. The results, which include rankings on knowledge and application of the law, attentiveness, temperament and clarity of written opinions, can be found at www.iowabar.org.