So, Bob Vander Plaats is out hunting for Iowa Supreme Court justices again. This time he didn’t get his way on abortion restrictions.
Last week, the Iowa Supreme Court deadlocked 3-3 on whether to overturn a 2018 District Court ruling declaring a ban on abortions after six weeks of pregnancy unconstitutional. Most women don’t know they’re pregnant at six weeks. The tie means the ruling remains in place and abortion remains legal in Iowa up to 20 weeks. Justice Dana Oxley recused herself due to a conflict.
“In 2010, Iowans ousted three Iowa Supreme Court justices for disregarding the separation of power,” tweeted Vander Plaats, president and chief executive zealot of the Family Leader. “These three dissenters have shown blatant disrespect for the constitution, the people's representatives and we the people. They should resign, be impeached or be ousted.”
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The three justices don’t face retention until 2028. Impeachment would seem unlikely, but under this Golden Dome of Wisdom, who knows?
Actually, it was the Republican-controlled Legislature and the governor who ducked their constitutional duties. As usual, it was pure politics.
They were hoping to get draconian abortion restrictions without the current crop of Republican lawmakers having to take a politically risky vote. Since the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs ruling striking down Roe v. Wade, Iowa Republicans have been dodgy and largely quiet about the issue. Most Iowans want abortion to remain legal.
Lawmakers declined this year to take a second vote on a constitutional amendment proclaiming the state constitution does not guarantee a right to abortion. Another post-Dobbs dodge.
They were depending on the conservative Supreme Court to accept their convoluted, Rube Goldberg legal strategy. All they wanted the court to do is toss out a district-court ruling, which the governor did not appeal at the time. Then resurrect a five-year-old law from the dead. Oh, and please set a new standard of legal review for abortion laws?
“This case is extraordinary,” Justice Thomas Waterman wrote for the three justices who opposed making this leap. “It involves the polarizing issue of abortion, and specifically an unprecedented effort to judicially revive a statute that was declared unconstitutional in a never-appealed final judgment four years ago.”
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It really wasn’t a huge surprise a court majority didn’t embrace this legal caca panini.
Now if Republicans and the governor want abortion restrictions they’ll have to draft, pass and sign a bill into law. They’ll have to decide what restrictions, exemptions and punishments the bill will contain. They’ll have to take votes on the record for all Iowans to see.
And, eventually, the Iowa Supreme Court will be asked to rule on its constitutionality. And Vander Plaats is sending a warning to the justices they’d better see things his way or he’ll come after them. It’s also likely we’ll see legislation seeking to give Republican politicians and their appointees more power over the judicial system.
Surely, Vander Plaats will defend the sacred separation of powers. But to him it means using government power to separate Iowans from their rights.
www.thegazette.com
Last week, the Iowa Supreme Court deadlocked 3-3 on whether to overturn a 2018 District Court ruling declaring a ban on abortions after six weeks of pregnancy unconstitutional. Most women don’t know they’re pregnant at six weeks. The tie means the ruling remains in place and abortion remains legal in Iowa up to 20 weeks. Justice Dana Oxley recused herself due to a conflict.
“In 2010, Iowans ousted three Iowa Supreme Court justices for disregarding the separation of power,” tweeted Vander Plaats, president and chief executive zealot of the Family Leader. “These three dissenters have shown blatant disrespect for the constitution, the people's representatives and we the people. They should resign, be impeached or be ousted.”
Advertisement
The three justices don’t face retention until 2028. Impeachment would seem unlikely, but under this Golden Dome of Wisdom, who knows?
Actually, it was the Republican-controlled Legislature and the governor who ducked their constitutional duties. As usual, it was pure politics.
They were hoping to get draconian abortion restrictions without the current crop of Republican lawmakers having to take a politically risky vote. Since the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs ruling striking down Roe v. Wade, Iowa Republicans have been dodgy and largely quiet about the issue. Most Iowans want abortion to remain legal.
Lawmakers declined this year to take a second vote on a constitutional amendment proclaiming the state constitution does not guarantee a right to abortion. Another post-Dobbs dodge.
They were depending on the conservative Supreme Court to accept their convoluted, Rube Goldberg legal strategy. All they wanted the court to do is toss out a district-court ruling, which the governor did not appeal at the time. Then resurrect a five-year-old law from the dead. Oh, and please set a new standard of legal review for abortion laws?
“This case is extraordinary,” Justice Thomas Waterman wrote for the three justices who opposed making this leap. “It involves the polarizing issue of abortion, and specifically an unprecedented effort to judicially revive a statute that was declared unconstitutional in a never-appealed final judgment four years ago.”
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It really wasn’t a huge surprise a court majority didn’t embrace this legal caca panini.
Now if Republicans and the governor want abortion restrictions they’ll have to draft, pass and sign a bill into law. They’ll have to decide what restrictions, exemptions and punishments the bill will contain. They’ll have to take votes on the record for all Iowans to see.
And, eventually, the Iowa Supreme Court will be asked to rule on its constitutionality. And Vander Plaats is sending a warning to the justices they’d better see things his way or he’ll come after them. It’s also likely we’ll see legislation seeking to give Republican politicians and their appointees more power over the judicial system.
Surely, Vander Plaats will defend the sacred separation of powers. But to him it means using government power to separate Iowans from their rights.
Opinion: Vander Plaats is on the hunt again for Iowa justices
Former Iowa gubernatorial candidate Bob Vander Plaats speaks to a room full of people during the Iowa City stop on …
www.thegazette.com
