December 2010-January  2011

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Keeping Courts Free from Political Pressure

Last November, Iowans ousted three of Iowa’s seven Supreme Court justices.  The campaign against the Justices spent nearly $1 million and a new report from the National Institute on Money in State Politics tracks spending by five out of state groups that contributed to the campaign.  On the heels of the retention vote, Iowa’s courts are confronting several additional developments. 

·         In December, the law firm of James Bopp, Jr. filed a petition for injunctive relief with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa alleging that the selection of lawyers for the state judicial nominating commission was unconstitutional.  That claim was dismissed on January 19 by Judge Robert Pratt.  Similar lawsuits in Alaska and Kansas have been dismissed, and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, on appeal, ruled against the Plaintiffs last year.  AJS filed an amicus curiae brief in the Alaska case and issued a statement about the Iowa lawsuit. 

·         As the Iowa General Assembly started in mid-January, three freshman lawmakers began a legislative effort to impeach the remaining justices.  AJS released a statement urging against impeachment, and nearly 2,000 Iowans have signed an open letter opposing impeachment coordinated by the group Justice, Not Politics.  New polling by the Justice At Stake Campaign and Justice Not Politics confirms that the majority of Iowans does not believe that a single unpopular decision rises to the “misdemeanors or malfeasance” standard for judicial impeachment. 

·         The Judicial Nominating Commission solicited applications to fill the three new vacancies on the Supreme Court.  On Monday, January 24, the Commission began four days of interviews with the sixty applicants.  For the first time, the applications and interviews were open to the public, and live-streamed on the internet. 

·         On Thursday, January 27, the Judicial Nominating Commission released the names of the nine individuals who are being recommended to the governor.  Governor Branstad has indicated that he will complete his interviews in private.  The Governor has thirty days to make the appointments.

·         A new group called Iowa Judicial Watch is proposing changes to Iowa’s merit selection system, including public nonpartisan elections for all nominating commissioners as well as explicit inclusion of ideology on judicial application forms.  Some observers anticipate a legislative proposal to alter or do away with merit selection in the coming weeks.

In light of the ongoing public debate about Iowa’s merit selection system and the need for fair and impartial courts, AJS continues to be active in public education and information campaigns about the value of courts that remain free from political pressure. 

Article was contributed by Professor Rachel Caufield, Research Fellow at American Judicature Society.