OK, I’ve had enough and can’t resist the compulsion to stick my nose in here. As a matter of disclosure: I am an Iowan, I am an Iowa lawyer, for a while I was an inferior court judge, I am a member of the judicial nominating commission for trial court judges in this corner of the state.
The campaign to punish the state supreme court for the gay marriage decision has been ongoing since the case was decided. Initially the campaign was the brain child of Robert VanderPlaats who ran for Governor on pretty much the sole issue of the decision, and Charles Hurley, a failed small town lawyer and briefly a member of the state parole board by virtue of his appointment by the once and future governor (when Charlie went on the parole board the word was quickly spread that anyone who wanted out of the state pen had better find Jesus and had best find Him pretty damned fast). For the last few years Charlie has been the state coordinator for James Hobson’s Focus on the Family outfit. VanderPlaats lost the GOP primary to Terry Brandstad who had served two or three terms as governor and now will be governor again. VanderPlaats declined to team up with Brandstad and pretty much devoted himself full time to seeing that the three justices up for retention were not retained and urging the repeal of the Iowa system of appointing trial and appellate judges in favor of a straight popular election. Someplace in here Congressman Steve King, who first came to popular attention by decrying Mexican and Central American packing house workers as a moral and national security threat, became an active player.
The whole thing did not come to a boil until just after Labor Day when the state was deluged by 30 second TV advertising denouncing activist judges making law and denigrating the institution of marriage. The whole thing topped off a couple weeks before the election with Congressman Steve, VanderPlaats and Charlie on a huge purple bus bedecked with portraits of Chief Justice Ternus, Justice Streit and Justice Baker with big red diagonal stripes and the word NO across them.
The Justices for their part did pretty much nothing – presumably trusting in their own virtue and the feeble public education program (in which I participated) put up by the state bar association. After all, Iowa’s judicial appointment and retention system, in place for almost 50 years without a hint of controversy, is supposed to be non-political. The Justices and the bar, bless their hearts, found themselves in a knife fight armed with retractable ball point pens. They never had a chance.
Those of use who have lived through this little horror show know full well that this was not a fight about constitutional theory, the proper roll of the courts in society or Turnus, C.J.’s personal and family life. It was a deliberate effort on the part of cynical politicians and true believers to punish a soft target for the gay marriage decision. It was a celebration of homophobia, just that and nothing more. As much as people who were not here or who might have some private ax to grind might pretend otherwise homophobia is all there was to it.
It is not the end of the world. Iowans tend to be pretty rational although we do have our moments – as the effort to prohibit church services in German, Norwegian, Danish and any other language than English in the years after WWI as a national security measure. We will get over this. The demographics will overwhelm the haters. The integrity and independence of the courts will be protected. Men of good will and good sense will prevail --and will have the good sense to fight back.
And also, a pox on our once and future governor who chose to stand above the fray and spoke not a word in defense or condemnation of the Iowa appointment and retention system or the three dedicated, experienced and reputable jurists whose careers have now been pretty well destroyed for the gratification of the true believers. It would have almost been kinder to have dragged them out in front of the Judicial Building in Des Moines and strung them up to a lamp post.
As a side note, if there is a reason to have sought the removal of the Chief Justice it is that she and her predecessors have been engaged in a campaign that, however well intentioned and driven by fiscal considerations, is effectively eviscerating the courts in the rural counties – dismissal of court reporters, early closing in the clerks offices, restrictions on judicial travel (if you want to try your case you and your client and all your witnesses will have to drive two hours one way to the City County courthouse, we don’t have any judges who can go to East Harnessbuckle County -and you will have to hire a private court reported, too). There is no indication that Mr. VanderPlaats, Charlie Hurley or Representative King give a good God Damn about that.
In the meantime, I look forward to the publication of Bricker’s law review article pointing out the error of the Iowa Court’s decision. He seems to have plenty of time to pontificate here, his busy professional life notwithstanding, so there is no reason he could not put together a couple hundred pages of dense reasoning and comment on the matter. The Iowa Law Review might have an interest, thought it doesn’t pay much. But then maybe our friend can get a canned brief from the Federalist Society.