IOWA: Focus On The Family Files Federal Lawsuit To Stop Court Appointments

Focus On The Family has filed a federal lawsuit demanding that the public have a say in the appointments of state Supreme Court justices. After a NOM-led campaign succeeded in deposing three justices in the 2010 retention vote, the Christianist hate group Focus is intent on thwarting the replacement of those pro-marriage justices with similarly equality-minded people. And in a death-of-irony moment, the suit alleges that the plaintiffs have been denied equal protection.

The Des Moines Register reports:

Four Iowans allege in a federal lawsuit that the commission process used to select finalists for the Iowa Supreme Court denies them a chance to participate equally in the selection of justices and judges. The lawsuit in U.S. District Court seeks a judge’s order to prevent seven lawyer members of the state judicial nominating commission from selecting finalists to replace three Iowa Supreme Court justices, who were denied new terms by voters last month. The four plaintiffs contend that including the lawyer members — who are elected by other bar-member attorneys — violates their constitutional equal-protection rights. The lawsuit was filed by a James Bopp Jr., a lawyer from the conservative James Madison Center for Free Speech in Terra Haute, Ind.

Currently a 15-member commission nominates appellate and Supreme Court justices, who are then appointed by the governor. That system was adopted by a state constitutional amendment in 1962.

NOTE: JMG reader Enzo, whose blog is linked below, clarifies that the suit was filed by Focus On The Family lawyer James Bopp Jr on behalf of the Indiana-based James Madison Center for Free Speech.

(Via - Aksarbent)