Former Justice O'Connor backs Iowa judge selection
from The Des Moines Register
Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor will speak in favor of Iowa's merit-based judge-selection system today during a panel discussion in Des Moines.
The former associate justice is expected to stress the advantages of the current way the state chooses judges, as opposed to electing them by popular vote.
The forum at the Hotel Fort Des Moines focuses on "the importance of fair and impartial courts" from a business and labor standpoint, said Steve Boeckman, a spokesman for the Iowa State Bar Association, which is sponsoring the event.
O'Connor's stop in Des Moines comes in the midst of an in-state debate over judicial retention that began after last year's Iowa Supreme Court decision that led to allowing same-sex couples to marry.
