Wednesday was a difficult day for The American Independent News Network, which is the larger entity that operates The Iowa Independent. Our chief executive and founder announced two of our sister sites would close and their content would be moved to The American Independent.
A recently introduced bill could have far-reaching impact on the U.S. sugar industry, including American Crystal Sugar, a farmer-owned cooperative that locked out 1,300 Midwest workers on Aug. 1.
The chairman for Herman Cain’s Iowa effort says the campaign “relied more on the word of farmers than Washington regulators” in deciding to run an ad containing claims the Environmental Protection Agency says are false.
The Iowa Senate will remain under the control of a slim 26-25 Democratic majority when it reconvenes in January 2012.
The effort to oust the three Iowa Supreme Court justices up for retention vote this fall, along with calls by some to replace Iowa’s merit based system for judicial appointment with partisan elections, “reflect a fundamental misunderstanding and misrepresentation of the role, responsibilities and authority of judges in the interpretation and application of the Iowa Constitution,” three former state Supreme Court justices wrote Sunday in The Des Moines Register.
Iowa Supreme Court Chief Justice Marsha Ternus and Justices Michael Streit and David Baker are up for retention votes on the Nov. 2 ballot. They are targeted for defeat in an effort organized by Bob Vander Plaats, a three-time former GOP gubernatorial hopeful who says the court’s ruling last year legalizing same-sex marriage is grounds for the judges to be voted out.
Former Justices Robert Allbee, Linda Neuman and Mark McCormick defended the decision and the court that made it.
In holding that the Iowa statute limiting civil marriage to opposite-sex couples violated the equal protection clause, the court did not enact a statute or “redefine marriage.” Nor did the court usurp legislative or executive authority. Moreover, the decision does not affect the right of religious groups to define marriage as they wish. The decision relates only to civil rights.
Unfortunately, Vander Plaats admits he does not actually understand the court’s decision. His attack on the integrity of the court is baseless and reckless. It is clear that the court’s decision was based on its good faith understanding of what the constitution required. Nothing in the decision supports removal of the justices from office.
The three went on to criticize calls for electing judges, saying the move would be a step backward for the court system.
In an interview with the Cedar Rapids Gazette’s Rob Boshart, Chief Justice Ternus said she and her colleagues are “not forming campaign committees. We’re not going to become politicians.” However, a bipartisan group did form earlier this month to defend the three judges and the state’s judicial selection process.
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