Litigation

New Group to Defend IA Courts

By Peter Hardin

With campaigns emerging to unseat three Iowa Supreme Court justices in retention elections this fall, a new group has formed to defend Iowa’s court system.

The non-profit, bipartisan group is called Iowans for Fair & Impartial Courts, according to a Mason City Globe Gazette article.

Its leaders include co-chairman Scott Brennan, a former state Democratic Party chairman; former Republican National Committeeman Steve Roberts; and Bob Rafferty, who once served as chief of staff for then-Gov. Terry Bransted.

Leaders of the group said they will promote the merits of Iowa’s current system of appointment and retention elections for judges, but the group also was responding in part to criticism that has erupted since the state Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriages in Iowa last year.

You can read about those criticisms and new efforts, which include a group led by former Republican candidate for governor Bob Vander Plaats, in recent Gavel Grab posts.

While the Fair & Impartial Courts effort will involve speaking to civic groups at first, it may include mail and broadcast advertising later.

Iowa picks judges through a process called merit selection, aimed at insulating the courts from politics. You can learn more about merit selection from Justice at Stake’s issues page on the topic.

A national group based in Des Moines,  the American Judicature Society, has called Iowa’s courts “among the best in the nation, and they should remain free from political pressure.?

Full post as published by The Gavel on August 12, 2010 (boomark / email).