Are Iowa's Supreme Court Justices Really Out of Control?

DES MOINES, Iowa, September 25, 2010 - The April, 2009 landmark decision allowing same-sex marriage in Iowa made us the first mid-west state to allow gay marriage. Now three Iowa Supreme Court justices who are on the November ballot to retain their seats have been singled out by Bob Vander Plaats as activist judges. He has launched a TV ad campaign against the three justices, financed by the American Family Association who has already shelled out $200,000. The AFA is a group with radical beliefs about gays and would like to see homosexuality considered a criminal act.

In most elections, few people pay attention to whether or not judges should be retained. However, this year, Bob Vander Plaats, Republican from Sioux City, who lost his bid for a run at the Governor's mansion, hopes to convince us to unseat the three Iowa Supreme Court justices because of the unanimous ruling by the court allowing same-sex marriage in Iowa.

Vander Plaats is trying to scare Iowans into believing the court will next turn their sights on our freedom of speech, right to bear arms and freedom of religion if they remain on the bench. This may be a good tactic to use to frighten people into voting NO at the ballot box, but these are freedoms guaranteed to us in the Bill of Rights and no judicial or legislative body can take those freedoms away from us. No one should be fired from their job for doing what their employer asked them to do. We expect judges to make rulings based on the law and not cave in to political threats from either side when making their decisions. We may not always like how they ruled, but they don't deserve to be fired for doing what we hired them to do.

The three judges singled out are far from activist judges. In fact, the court has been fairly conservative on the majority of cases they've ruled on over the years. However, same-sex marriage is such a hot button issue, right wing politicians use fear and ignorance of the facts to sway voters. According to FindLaw.com, the decision handed down by the Supreme Court justices was in accordance with the Iowa Constitution that gives equal protection to all Iowans.

Most judges are not activist judges and are tasked with having to make unpopular decisions based on law. The tide is turning across the country concerning gay marriage. Mounting a smear campaign to unseat judges who ruled according to our state's constitution with an unpopular decision on the right is hateful and petty and that's not who we are as Iowans. But fear is a powerful weapon that gets results because voters don't take the time to do their own research and hear only what they choose to hear.

There will always be one side that doesn't agree with a decision made by the courts. Unseating a sitting judge should only be done because they aren't doing their job; not because we don't agree with their decision. I would rather have a judge who makes a ruling based on law, even if I don't agree with it, than a judge who decides a case based on his/her political or religious beliefs. We want judges who have the courage to stand up for the law, especially when it's unpopular. Punishing judges you don't agree with will create a judicial system that makes decisions based on politics and not on the law.

A NO vote won't change the law, it only proves people vote based on fear; not on facts.

1857 Constitution of The State of Iowa, The Iowa Legislature General Assembly

Iowa Supreme Court, judgepedia.org

AFA Has Spent Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars To Oust Iowa Judges Over Marriage Ruling, Right Wing Watch

Joanna L. Grossman and Linda C. McClain,The Iowa Supreme Court Appeals to Iowa's Constitution and Iowan Values to Strike Down State Ban on Same-Sex Marriage-and Renders the Practice Once Again Legal in Three (Make that Four) States, Findalaw