News

from The Iowa Independent

The effort to oust the three Iowa Supreme Court justices up for retention vote this fall, along with calls by some to replace Iowa’s merit based system for judicial appointment with partisan elections, “reflect a fundamental misunderstanding and misrepresentation of the role, responsibilities and authority of judges in the interpretation and application of the Iowa Constitution,” three former state Supreme Court justices wrote Sunday in The Des Moines Register.

from The Washington Post

... Last year, the Iowa Supreme Court upheld a lower court's ruling that the state's law barring the recognition of same-sex marriage violated the Iowa Constitution. It was a major victory for gay rights groups, in part because Iowa is the only Midwestern state to allow same-sex couples to legally wed, joining four other states and the District of Columbia.

Supporters note that ousting the judges would not change the ruling. Nevertheless, they see it as a symbolic threat and have begun reaching out to voters.

from The Washington Post

Amid the rides, animal exhibits and food at the Iowa State Fair, activists debate the merits of a campaign to turn back the clock on gay marriages in the state. Some have called for the removal of judges on thestate's supreme court who ruled in favor of gay marriage, calling the ruling unconstitutional.

from The Iowa Independent

Clear Channel Communications Inc., which owns WHO-AM and several other radio stations in Des Moines, distanced itself Thursday morning from one its hosts who said the idea that AIDS does not discriminate is a lie [Audio].

from the Muscatine Journal

Bob Vander Plaats -a Sioux City Republican who has unsuccessfully run for governor in 2002, 2006 and 2010 -has set his sights on new targets: The Iowa Supreme Court justices whose ruling in 2009 legalized same-sex marriages in Iowa. He has launched a campaign encouraging Iowans in November to vote no on the retention votes for Chief Justice Marsha Ternus and Justices David Baker and Michael Streit.

from The Decorah Newspapers

... "Iowa has a historic commitment to protect the equality and individual liberties to all of its citizens," said Sharon Malheiro during the Achieving Marriage Equality in the Heartland conference at Luther College last weekend.

Malheiro is president of the Board of Davis Brown Law Firm in Des Moines and founder and Board Chair of One Iowa, an organization that has led the effort for marriage equality within the state.