By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Journalist
Three judges who voted to legalize same-sex marriage in the state of Iowa have been voted out of office by an angry electorate who is now considering a drive to overturn the 2009 court ruling that made the marriages legal.
The Iowa Independent is reporting that for the first time ever, three sitting Supreme Court justices have been thrown off the bench by voters who remain angry about a decision to legalize same-sex marriage last year.
Because Iowa law requires judges to win a majority of “yes” votes at the polls to win another eight year term, voters took aim at three judges who voted in favor of gay marriage – Chief Justice Marsha K. Ternus, Michael J. Streit, and David L. Baker. All three were ousted from the bench.
“I think it will send a message across the country that the power resides with the people,” said Bob Vander Plaats, a Republican who led the campaign after losing the Republican nomination for governor, to a crowd of cheering supporters at an election night party. “It’s we the people, not we the courts.”
Speaking to a crowd of voters, many of whom carried signs that read: “No Activist Judges”, Vander Plaats commended Iowans for their common sense, saying the more they learned about the issue of gay marriage, “the more they were willing to vote no because they saw an activist court that wanted to make law from the bench and they knew that wasn’t their role. Their voice was never heard on the same-sex marriage issue.”
The successful drive to oust the judges is now emboldening many to consider a push to overturn the court’s 2009 ruling that legalized same-sex marriage.
Craig Robinson, a former political director of the Republican Party of Iowa, wrote on his blog today that the vote may provide the motivation needed to try for a marriage amendment to the state’s constitution. However, it would have be done by somehow getting around a Democratic leader in the state senate who has vowed to never allow a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage to come up for a vote. But with Republicans in control of the Iowa House, and a much smaller Democratic advantage in the state Senate, marriage is expected to become a big issue during the 2011 session.
There could be much broader fallout besides. The New York Times is reporting that while the Iowa ouster was the most prominent, similar ouster campaigns have begun in other states against state supreme court justices — judges whose rulings on matters involving abortion, taxes, tort reform and health care have upset the populace.
Activist judges caught in these races usually argue that voters should consider issues like competence and temperament rather than a single issue when casting ballots for or against a judge. But voters in Iowa didn’t buy it, and probably won’t do so in the future, even when outgoing Democratic governor Chet Culver appoints successors to the judges who are expected to be as liberal as the three who were just sent packing.
However, the good news is that Iowa voters are given an opportunity to vote on the retention of new judges after that person has served one full year on the bench. So any appointments made in late 2010 or early 2011 by Culver will come back before voters in the 2012 general election.
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