Defending Iowa's courts: State Sen. Kent Sorensen would politicize judiciary by electing Iowa Supreme Court

Andrew Duffelmeyer, of the Iowa Independent, reports that a nationally-coordinated effort is underway to dismantle judicial merit selection processes in multiple states, according to the head of the Iowa ACLU, threatening the independence of the judiciary.

Ben Stone, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa, said that would leave people accused of crimes “in a horrid position.”

     “They want people that are terrified of public opinion, because they know they can manipulate public opinion to get what they want,” Stone said.

Polk County District Court Judge Robert Hanson says he's accepted every invitation to talk about the decision and other issues.

Hanson said that process showed “what happens when we take the high road” and “what staying quiet gets you as a judge: it gets you a ticket right off the bench.”

     “People assume the worst about us right now,” Hanson said. “I don’t like that any better than anybody else does but that’s the truth. They accept this characterization of us as out of control, as arrogant people that are trying to hold society in the way that we think it ought to be and not giving them any say in it.”

From top Left: Reps Dwayne Alons of Hull,Tom Shaw of Laurens,
Betty De Boef of What Cheer, Glen Massie of Des Moines
and Kim Pearson of Pleasant Hill.

The Independent recalled that:

...five Republican lawmakers filed resolutions to impeach those justices: Reps. Dwayne Alons (R-Hull), Betty De Boef (R-What Cheer), Glen Massie (R-Des Moines), Kim Pearson (R-Pleasant Hill), Tom Shaw (R-Laurens).
[AKSARBENT: This political stunt, quickly quashed, caused the Muscatine Journal to recommend that the five be recalled.]

     Those five, along with Reps. Royd Chambers (R-Sheldon) and Mark Lofgren (R-Muscatine) also filed a resolution to remove the judicial nomination process from the Iowa Constitution and instead allowing the governor to fill vacancies in the Supreme Court through appointment and Iowa Senate confirmation.

    And state Sen. Kent Sorenson (R-Indianola) filed a resolution amending the Iowa Constitution so that Iowa Supreme Court justices are elected in statewide races, not appointed by a commission. [AKSARBENT: More about Sorensen here and here.]