Legal challenge won't keep ousted Iowa Supreme Court justices in office

A lawsuit challenging the way Iowa's judicial retention election was handled last month will not keep the three Iowa Supreme Court justices who lost retention votes in office when their current terms expire Dec. 31.

A trio of attorneys who contend the Iowa constitution requires that the retention votes for judges be handled on a separate ballot in general elections every two years withdrew their request for a temporary injunction. The attorneys were seeking to block enforcement of the election outcome after a state attorney general said the Judicial Branch officials were resisting the request for injunctive relief.

Des Moines lawyer John Roehrick, one of the three attorneys who filed the lawsuit, told Polk County District Judge Michael Huppert today that the plaintiffs who brought the lawsuit were ending their request for the temporary injunction based upon the position of the three Iowa Supreme Court justices in their official capacities. The judge accepted the withdrawal, and said a hearing would be held next year on the question of whether the constitution requires that a separate ballot be offered to general-election voters to decide whether judges should be retained on the bench.

Voters last months ousted Iowa Supreme Court Chief Justice Marsha Ternus and Associate Justices Michael Streit and David Baker as part of the general election. The names of the more than 70 judges – including the three Supreme Court justices – were included on a single ballot that voters used to select Iowa's next governor, statewide officeholders, legislators, federal elected officials in the House and Senate, as well as ballot questions and local issues.

Roehrick said the attorneys who filed the lawsuit believe the constitution requires a separate ballot for the judicial retention vote as a way to maintain the separation of powers among the three branches of government.

Jeff Thompson of the Iowa Attorney General's Office said the state seeks to defend the process and the results of the Nov. 2 election.