Former Iowa Supreme Court Justice Michael Streit said the public pressure put on judges through increasingly political retention campaigns will affect how they do their jobs.
“We’re only human,” Streit said during a panel discussion on media coverage of the courts held Friday at Drake University as part of the Iowa Freedom of Information Council’s annual meeting.
Voters removed Streit, Marsha Ternus and David Baker from the court in 2010 following an aggressive anti-retention campaign by social conservatives who were mobilized by the court’s 2009 ruling that legalized gay marriage in Iowa.
But Streit stopped well short of saying that political considerations would affect how judges decide cases. He said although politicians “cannot fathom” making a decision absent political considerations, judges have to.
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