“Do Not Judge Lest You Be Judged” (Matt. 7:1)
Norm Pawlewski, Lobbyist
Of course that scripture doesn’t apply to secular judges. They do judge, but for the most part are not judged.
The Iowa Christian Alliance (ICA) publishes a voter guide every two years which displays the political philosophy and worldview of candidates for federal and state office. With a combination of the candidates’ answers to an ICA questionnaire and , if available, their votes on issues we have deemed crucial to the well being of Iowa and our nation, the voter guide can be a valuable tool. Voters who wish to make an informed decision, before casting their ballot, can compare the candidates’ positions on important issues such as abortion, same sex marriage, taxation, school choice and other culture relative issues.
But when it comes to the retention of judges, no voter guide of any value to the average voter is available. I say “of value” because there is a “Judicial Plebiscite” conducted by the Iowa State Bar Association which evaluates each judge on a wide range of attributes. The results of this evaluation are available on line at www.iowabar.org one month prior to the election. If you go to that site and bring up the “Judicial Plebiscite” for the judges up for a retention vote this November 4th, you will discover that the evaluation is conducted by lawyers for lawyers. The average voter may learn that a particular judge is courteous to all parties, does not discriminate on the basis of race, creed or sexual preference and that they are timely in submitting a well written opinion. Would you be able to determine whether a judge has a worldview coincidental with yours? No. Would you be able to get some idea whether a particular judge would lean to the left or to the right? No. Would you be able to have confidence that a judge would or would not legislate from the bench? No.
The evaluation conducted by the Bar Association is not worthless. It just is not helpful for a voter who wants to know if a judge has ruled more and is more likely to rule like Justice Scalia or Justice Ginsberg.
Two years ago, the ICA and other faith based organizations joined the Iowa Family Policy Center in a project titled, “2006 Judicial Voter Guide Questionnaire for Judicial Candidates, Sponsored by Iowans Concerned About Judges.” The results were less than encouraging. Only a few judges responded; none filled out the questionnaire. The questions asked would not have violated any rules regarding impartiality, judicial independence or in any way violate their judicial ethics. I can only conclude that judges, for the most part, do not want to be held accountable for their worldview. In my opinion, judges who are unwilling to be open about who they are and how they view their role in regard to critical issues impacting today’s culture, leave me unwilling to give them my vote. I will this time, as I have every election for many years, vote NO on all the judges.
Three justices on the Iowa Supreme Court are up for retention: Justice Brent R. Appel, Justice Daryl L. Hecht and Justice Mark Cody. Appel and Hecht were appointed by Iowa’s most leftist, liberal, pro abortion, pro gay everything governor in its history, Tom Vilsack. If they get a positive vote, they will not be up for retention again for eight years.
There are dozens of lower court justices up for retention. To access a list, you may go to Iowa Judicial Branch web site at http://www.judicial.state.ia.us/Public_Information/About_Judges/Retention/
If you decide you would like to know what other lawyers think about these judges, you may access the “Judicial Plebiscite” information on the Iowa State Bar Association web site at www.iowabar.org. Or just do like I do, vote NO. Considering that the Iowa Bar and the Iowa Trial Lawyers Association are the source of most of the judges now on the bench, and that both of those organizations are considered by most Christians to be less than supportive of a biblical worldview and would hardly put forward for appointment an openly Christian conservative lawyer, guess what worldview dominates Iowa’s Judiciary?