Panel selects 9 Iowa Supreme Court nominees

(AP) - A panel named nine nominees on Thursday night to fill three vacancies on the Iowa Supreme Court that were created when voters ousted some justices for their part in a unanimous 2009 ruling legalizing same-sex marriage in the state.

The Iowa Judicial Nomination Commission made its choices after completing three days of interviews with 60 applicants. Their recommendation now goes to Gov. Terry Branstad, who has 30 days to make his appointments. The appointments are not subject to legislative approval.

In November, voters chose not to retain former Chief Justice Marsha Ternus and former justices Michael Streit and David Baker. The justices left the court on Dec. 31.

The nominees to replace them are Robert Blink of West Des Moines; Arthur Gamble of Clive; John Gray of Sioux City; Steven Lawyer of New Virginia; Edward Mansfield of Des Moines; Michael Mullins of Washington; Angela Onwuachi-Willig of Grinnell; Thomas Waterman of Pleasant Valley; and Bruce Zager of Waterloo.

Mansfield is a judge on the Iowa Court of Appeals. Four other nominees - Blink, Gamble, Mullins and Zager - are district court judges.

Onwuachi-Willig is law professor at the University of Iowa. Gray, Lawyer and Waterman are attorneys in private practice.

Branstad spokesman Tim Albrecht said the governor was traveling and had not seen the names of those nominated. Albrecht said Branstad wouldn't decide quickly, and he didn't know if the governor would announce all the appointments at once or individually.

"Governor Branstad will interview every one of them and it will probably take all of the 30 days." Albrecht said.

Branstad has previously said he won't ask the candidates how they would rule in specific cases. Instead, Branstad said he would try to learn their judicial philosophy and their view of the court's role in state government.

The justices will be appointed to serve six-year terms and must stand for a retention vote during general elections. That gives voters the option of retaining them or removing them from the bench.

Iowa's process for replacing the justices also came under fire after the November election, with a group filing a lawsuit that challenged the constitutionality of the system that voters approved in 1962. The lawsuit claimed attorneys have too much power in the judicial selection process, but a federal judge dismissed the lawsuit, saying there was no constitutional violation.

Replacing the justices has been a far more public system than similar efforts in the past. While those interviews with applicants were private, the process this time was streamed live over the Internet.

Chief Justice Mark Cady has called the election "a wakeup call" and said it has prompted him to make the court more transparent. As part of that effort, he said the court will meet throughout the state and not only in Des Moines.

Conservative activist Bob Vander Plaats, who led the campaign to oust the three justices, did not immediately return a call.

A group of three new Iowa House members is drafting a resolution of impeachment for the four remaining justices, but top legislative leaders said they don't expect that effort to succeed. Branstad has said he opposes impeachment.