Judges can't please everyone

In every case a judge decides, someone must win, someone must lose.

One of the great things about the U.S. Constitution and the Iowa Constitution is that the decisions of our judges sometimes act as a check on the other branches of government. Those decisions are accepted and the losing side doesn't attack the judge personally. That (attack) may happen in other countries, but not ours.

Within this system, Iowa and most other states try to keep judges apart from election-year politics, so when they decide cases, both sides are confident it has nothing to do with politics. Iowans of every stripe in every kind of case are assured they had a fair shake in court.

Should we vote against an incompetent judge? Sure. An incompetent judge doesn't know the law or can't apply it. Writing a legal decision you disagree with does not make a judge incompetent. It is disrespectful toward the Constitution that protects all of us to suggest otherwise.

William Nicholson

Cedar Rapids