Iowa

According to the Des Moines Register, experts predict that more than $400,000 will be spent in Iowa Supreme Court Justice David Wiggins’ retention election. With so much money injected into what is intended to be an apolitical process, backers of the courts worry that the judicial system will become tied to popular political opinion and that courts and judges may therefore be afraid to decide certain issues for fear of an electoral backlash driven by special interests.

According to a recent poll, 43 percent of Iowans would vote “no” on Justice David Wiggins’ retention, while 37 percent would vote “yes.”

A recent poll shows that 49 percent of voters plan to vote to retain Justice David Wiggins in November, while 41 percent will vote to remove him. In 2009, Wiggins joined a unanimous supreme court decision recognizing a right to same-sex marriage under the state constitution.

The Iowa Supreme Court finds itself battling to maintain a fair and independent judiciary as a group of Iowans, now backed by the state's Republican party, intensify their campaign for the removal of Justice David Wiggins. In an attempt to keep campaign politics out of Iowa's judicial merit selection system, Justice Wiggins, like his previously ousted colleagues, has refused to launch a retention campaign to fight his removal.

Iowans for Freedom announced plans for a statewide “NO Wiggins” bus tour that will oppose judicial activism and the retention of one of the seven justices who in 2009 recognized a right to same-sex marriage in the state’s constitution. The state bar is launching its own weeklong bus tour—the “Yes Iowa Justice Tour.”

Instead of launching his own campaign to fight back against the effort to remove him, Iowa Supreme Court Justice David Wiggins affirmed his belief that politicizing the courts leads to outcome-motivated judges who hold themselves accountable to donors and critics instead of the law. Similarly, while Florida State Supreme Court Justice Peggy Quince has launched a campaign to stay on the bench, doing so makes her “uncomfortable.”

According to a statewide poll, 47 percent of voters favor retaining the four justices standing for retention in November, while 24 percent oppose their retention and 25 percent are undecided. Poll results also show little residual anger over the supreme court’s 2009 decision recognizing a right to same-sex marriage, which resulted in the retention defeat of three justices in 2010.

The founders of Justice Not Politics, a 501(c)(4) organization formed to defend three justices against retention challenges in 2010, have established a 527 organization called Justice Not Politics Action to support Justice David Wiggins’ retention.

The state Republican Party chair called for voters to remove one of four supreme court justices standing for retention in November. Justice David Wiggins participated in the 2009 unanimous ruling that legalized same-sex marriage in the state, and three of his colleagues lost their bids for retention in 2010.

The Iowa State Bar Association has released its biennial survey of practicing attorneys on judges and justices up for retention this November.  The survey showed high approval ratings for all Iowa judges and justices, and the Bar Association plans to “urge voters this fall to retain all judges.”