Leaders say more at stake in retention vote than Wiggins, same-sex marriage issue

By James Q. Lynch

The Gazette

JOHNSTON – As unlikely as it might seem, Bob Vander Plaats, who leads the campaign to oust an Iowa Supreme Court justice, and Iowa State Bar Association President Cindy Moser agree on what's at stake in in this fall's judicial retention vote.

Justice David Wiggins, who was part of the court's unanimous decision to strike down a state law banning same-sex marriage, is on the ballot, but Vander Plaats and Moser agreed that the larger issue is a wholesale change in the way Iowa judges and justices are put on the bench.

“Freedom is the bigger issue,” Vander Plaats, the president of the conservative Christian group The Family Leader that is spearheading the anti-retention vote, said on Iowa Public Television's Iowa Press Sept. 28. “If they will do this to the institution marriage, it's a private property issue, it's a 2

^nd

Amendment issue, it's a religious liberty issue. It's a freedom issue.”

He can call it a freedom issue, but Moser, a Sioux City attorney, sees a “much broader agenda at play” than simply defending traditional marriage.

“It is not just the removal of a justice that they believe acted improperly,” she said. Vander Plaats and The Family Leader seek “a wholesale change in merit selection process that has served our state so well.”

Vander Plaats agreed.

“What we would like to see is a wholesale new process of how you appoint judges to the bench,” he said. He wants to remove the “heavy influence” the bar association and its members have in nominating judges for the governor to appoint to the bench.

“That's why (the bar association) have so much at stake, that's why they are so passionate about protecting that institution versus protecting the constitution,” Vander Plaats said.

He wants justices to be appointed by the governor, confirmed by the Iowa Senate and to be on the ballot so voters can decide whether they should be retained.

Although he predicted that “freedom-loving conservatives” will vote “no” on retaining Wiggins, Vander Plaats conceded the battle is more difficult than two years ago when his campaign was successful in removing three justices. Now it's a matter of reminding and re-engaging the base before the Nov. 6 election.

“Any time you get the team back into the locker room and say, ‘We have to do it again,' it will always be a more difficult battle,” he said. However, after spending the week on the road leading “No Wiggins” rallies, he believes “it's a very do-able battle.”

A poll showing 48 percent of Iowa voters support the decision and President Obama's support for same-sex marriage have are indicators that public sentiment has changed since 2010, Moser said.

“Society, in general, has moved toward acceptance of same-sex marriage as an acceptable way of life,” she said.

Iowa Press can be seen at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 28, 8:30 a.m. Sept. 29 on IPTV World and noon Sept. 30 on IPTV and is available at www.iptv.org.

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james.lynch@sourcemedia.net