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Iowa Supreme Court justice vacancy (March 2020)
| Iowa Supreme Court |
|---|
 |
| Wiggins vacancy |
| Date: March 13, 2020 |
| Status: Seat filled |
| Nomination |
| Nominee: Matthew McDermott (Iowa) |
| Date: April 3, 2020 |
Governor Kim Reynolds (R) appointed attorney Matthew McDermott to the Iowa Supreme Court on April 3, 2020. McDermott succeeded Acting Chief Justice David Wiggins, who retired on March 13, 2020.[1][2] McDermott was the governor's fourth nominee to the seven-member supreme court.
At the time of the appointment, the governor would appoint supreme court justices with help from a nominating commission in the event of a vacancy under Iowa law.
The appointee
- See also: Matthew McDermott
When he was appointed to the state supreme court, McDermott practiced law with Belin McCormick, P.C. in Des Moines, Iowa. He was also serving as president of the Board of Directors of Iowa Legal Aid. McDermott received his undergraduate degree, with distinction and honors, from the University of Iowa in 2000. He obtained his J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law in 2003. During his legal studies, McDermott was the executive editor of the California Law Review.[2][3]
Candidates and nominations
Finalists
The Iowa Judicial Nominating Commission recommended three finalists to Gov. Reynolds.[4]
- Judge Mary Chicchelly of the Iowa 6th District Court
- Attorney Matthew McDermott
- Judge David May of the Iowa Court of Appeals
Candidates
Fifteen candidates applied to fill the vacancy. The following list was accurate as of February 28, 2020.[5]
- Mindy Larsen-Poldberg, Director of Government Relations for the Iowa Corn Growers Association
- Assistant Attorney General Molly Weber
- Attorney Craig Nierman
- Guthrie County attorney Sharon Brenna Findley Bird
- Assistant Appellate Defender Theresa Wilson
- Attorney Matthew McDermott
- Judge Romonda Belcher of the Iowa 5th District Court
- Assistant Attorney General Lisa Reel Schmidt
- Attorney Alan Ostergren
- Judge Patrick H. Tott of the Iowa District 3B Court
- Attorney William Miller
- Judge Mary Chicchelly of the Iowa 6th District Court
- Sam Langholz, Senior legal counsel and special advisor to Gov. Kim Reynolds (R)
- Judge Joel Barrows of the Iowa 7th District Court
- Judge David May of the Iowa Court of Appeals
The selection process
- See also: Judicial selection in Iowa
As of March 2020, Iowa used the following judicial selection process:
The governor appointed judges of the Iowa Supreme Court with help from a nominating commission.[6] Within 60 days of receiving notice of the vacancy from the secretary of state, a commission would submit the names of three nominees to the governor, who would appoint one nominee to the court.[7]
Newly appointed judges would serve for one year. They had to compete in a yes-no retention election (occurring during the regularly scheduled general election) if they wished to continue serving on the court.[6]
Nominating commission
- See also: Iowa Judicial Nominating Commission
The Iowa Judicial Nominating Commission consisted of 17 members: one chairperson (the senior associate justice of the Iowa Supreme Court, other than the chief justice), eight lawyers selected by licensed Iowa lawyers, and eight non-lawyers appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Iowa State Senate.[8]
About Acting Chief Justice Wiggins
- See also: David Wiggins
Wiggins was appointed as an associate justice on the Iowa Supreme Court in 2003 by Governor Tom Vilsack (D). He became acting chief justice after the death of Chief Justice Mark Cady in 2019.
Before joining the state supreme court, Wiggins was an attorney and partner in private practice at Williams, Hart, Lavorto & Kirtley. He worked there from 1976 to 2003.
Wiggins received his B.A. from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 1973 and his J.D. from Drake University Law School in 1976.
Political outlook
In October 2012, political science professors Adam Bonica and Michael Woodruff of Stanford University attempted to determine the partisan ideology of state supreme court justices. They created a scoring system in which a score above 0 indicated a more conservative-leaning ideology, while scores below 0 were more liberal.
Wiggins received a campaign finance score of -0.96, indicating a liberal ideological leaning. This was more liberal than the average score of 0.21 that justices received in Iowa.
The study was based on data from campaign contributions by the judges themselves, the partisan leaning of those who contributed to the judges' campaigns, or, in the absence of elections, the ideology of the appointing body (governor or legislature). This study was not a definitive label of a justice, but an academic summary of various relevant factors.[9]
Other state supreme court appointments in 2020
- See also: State supreme court vacancies, 2020
The following table lists vacancies to state supreme courts that opened in 2020. Click the link under the Court column for a particular vacancy for more information on that vacancy.
Click here for vacancies that opened in 2021.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ WHOTV.com, "Iowa Supreme Court Acting Chief Justice Announces Retirement," January 10, 2020
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Office of the Governor of Iowa, "Gov. Reynolds appoints Matthew McDermott to the IA Supreme Court," April 3, 2020
- ↑ Belin McCormick, "Matthew C. McDermott," accessed April 15, 2020
- ↑ KCCI Des Moines, "Reynolds receives 3 Iowa Supreme Court nominees," March 6, 2020
- ↑ Des Moines Register, "15 Iowans vying to be Gov. Reynolds' 4th appointment to state's Supreme Court," February 27, 2020
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 American Judicature Society, "Methods of Judicial Selection: Iowa," archived October 2, 2014
- ↑ State of Iowa, "Nomination," accessed July 18, 2014
- ↑ Iowa Judicial Branch, "Judicial Nominating Commission begins process for selecting nominees for Supreme Court vacancy," December 13, 2018
- ↑ Stanford University, "State Supreme Court Ideology and 'New Style' Judicial Campaigns," October 31, 2012
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Federal courts:
Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Northern District of Iowa, Southern District of Iowa • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Northern District of Iowa, Southern District of Iowa
State courts:
Iowa Supreme Court • Iowa Court of Appeals • Iowa district courts
State resources:
Courts in Iowa • Iowa judicial elections • Judicial selection in Iowa
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