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Iowa Voters’ Judicial Directory Voter Information: Answers to Questions about Judicial Retention Elections Biographies of Judges on the 2018 Iowa Ballot Prepared as a public service by the Iowa Judicial Branch, October 2018. TABLE OF CONTENTS Retention Election Q & A ........................................................................................... pg. 2 Biographies of Judges Standing for Retention: Court of Appeals .....................................................................................................................pg. 4 District 1A .............................................................................................................................pg. 5 Allamakee, Clayton, Delaware, Dubuque, Winneshiek District 1B .............................................................................................................................pg. 6 Black Hawk, Buchanan, Chickasaw, Fayette, Grundy, Howard District 2A .............................................................................................................................pg. 8 Bremer, Butler, Cerro Gordo, Floyd, Franklin, Hancock, Mitchell, Winnebago, Worth District 2B .............................................................................................................................pg. 9 Boone, Calhoun, Carroll, Greene, Hamilton, Hardin, Humboldt, Marshall, Pocahontas, Sac, Story, Webster, Wright District 3A .............................................................................................................................pg. 12 Buena Vista, Cherokee, Clay, Dickinson, Emmet, Lyon, Kossuth, O’Brien, Osceola, Palo Alto District 3B .............................................................................................................................pg. 13 Crawford, Ida, Monona, Plymouth, Sioux, Woodbury District 4 ...............................................................................................................................pg. 14 Audubon, Cass, Fremont, Harrison, Mills, Montgomery, Page, Pottawattamie, Shelby District 5A .............................................................................................................................pg. 15 Dallas, Guthrie, Jasper, Madison, Marion, Warren District 5B .............................................................................................................................pg. 17 Adair, Adams, Clarke, Decatur, Lucas, Ringgold, Taylor, Union, Wayne District 5C .............................................................................................................................pg. 18 Polk District 6 ...............................................................................................................................pg. 20 Benton, Iowa, Johnson, Jones, Linn, Tama District 7 ...............................................................................................................................pg. 22 Cedar, Clinton, Jackson, Muscatine, Scott District 8A .............................................................................................................................pg. 24 Appanoose, Davis, Jefferson, Keokuk, Mahaska, Monroe, Poweshiek, Van Buren, Wapello, Washington District 8B .............................................................................................................................pg. 25 Des Moines, Henry, Lee, Louisa 1 WHAT ARE JUDICIAL RETENTION ELECTIONS? Retention elections are intended to focus on the professional competency of Iowa’s judges rather than the popularity of individual rulings. In a retention election, voters decide whether a judge should be retained or removed from office. If a judge receives a majority of “yes” votes, the judge serves another full term. If a judge receives a majority of “no” votes, the judge is removed from office at the end of the year. WHERE CAN I FIND AN ATTORNEY WHY DOES IOWA HAVE PERFORMANCE EVALUATION ABOUT JUDGES RETENTION ELECTIONS? ON THE BALLOT? In 1962, Iowa voters approved a constitutional amendment that replaced elections of judges with merit selection and retention elections. The Iowa State Bar Association surveys its A process using merit selection and retention members about judges standing for retention. elections: The results of this performance evaluation are available prior to the general election at: www. • Curbs the influence of political parties and iowabar.org. special interest groups in the selection of Iowa’s judges. • Emphasizes the selection of judges based WHAT ABOUT A JUDGE’S PERSONAL VIEWS upon their professional qualifications. ON CERTAIN ISSUES? • Gives voters the final say about who serves as a judge. • It is inappropriate for a judge to consider his • Is the most effective way to ensure fair and or her personal views, political pressure, or impartial courts. public opinion when deciding cases. Judges must be neutral and follow the rule of the law. • If a judge announces a position on an issue, the judge’s impartiality may be called into question. The judge may need to decline presiding over any case that involves that issue. • Judicial ethics prohibit judges from commenting about cases pending in court to ensure that litigants receive a fair trial. 2 WHAT MAKES A GOOD JUDGE? WHAT ABOUT AN UNPOPULAR • Integrity—honest, upright, and COURT DECISION? committed to the rule of law There are many reasons why a voter may want • Professional Competence—keen intellect, extensive legal knowledge, to consider more than just the outcome of one and strong writing ability case when assessing a judge’s performance: • Judicial Temperament—neutral, • Over the course of a career, a judge will decisive, respectful, and composed dispose of thousands of cases. One case alone is not necessarily an accurate • Experience—strong record of professional excellence in the law barometer of a judicial career. The Iowa Voter’s Judicial Directory gives a more • Service—committed to public service complete measure of a judge’s professional and the administration of justice history. • Judges must follow the law, which HOW ARE COURTS sometimes leads to unpopular results. If citizens disagree with a law, they may HELD ACCOUNTABLE ? petition the legislature to change it. Our system of government is carefully designed • High-profile cases that catch the media’s to foster fair and impartial courts while attention often bear little resemblance to the maintaining judicial accountability through a bulk of a judge’s work. Most court cases do series of checks on judicial power. not involve hot-button issues. • If a party in a case believes a judge made an error, the party may appeal to a higher court. WHAT ABOUT DECISIONS • If citizens disagree with a court’s interpretion A HIGHER COURT REVERSES? of a law, they may petition the legislature to amend the law and change the law’s effect in the future. Sometimes a higher court reverses the decision of a lower court. Reversal does not in itself • If citizens disagree with a court’s indicate the quality of a judge’s work. For interpretation of the constitution, they instance, the higher court could be ruling on have the ultimate power to amend the an issue for the first time or clarifying one of its constitution to change its effect in the earlier opinions that served as precedent for the future. lower court. • If a person thinks a judge has behaved unethically, the person may ask the Judicial Qualifications Commission to investigate. In these ways, courts are accountable to the laws, to the constitution, and to the people. 3 IOWA COURT OF APPEALS JUDGES Michael R. Mullins Iowa Court of Appeals Chief Judge Judge Michael R. Judge Mullins is a former member of the Mullins, Washington, Judicial Technology Committee and the was appointed as an 8th Business Advisory Committee for Electronic District Court judge in Document Management System (EDMS). He 2002 and to the Iowa is a faculty member for new judge orientation Court of Appeals in 2011. on the topic of sentencing issues. Judge He received his bachelor’s Mullins developed the Iowa Criminal Statutes degree from Southwest Summary Chart used by judges and lawyers Baptist University, throughout Iowa. He is a member of the Bolivar, Missouri in Washington County Bar Association, the 1974; his M.S.W. from Iowa Judges Association, the Iowa State the University of Iowa Bar Association, and the American Bar in 1976; and he was Association. editor-in-chief of Drake Law Review and graduated with honors, Order of Coif, from Judge Mullins is married with two adult Drake University Law School in 1982. Judge children and four grandchildren. Mullins spent 19 years in private practice in Washington, Iowa. Mary Tabor Iowa Court of Appeals Judge Judge Tabor, Des Moines, Judge Tabor worked as a staff attorney in was appointed to the the Office of General Counsel for the Federal Court of Appeals in Election Commission in Washington, D.C. 2010. She was born in from 1991 to 1993. She joined the Iowa Maquoketa and raised Attorney General’s office in 1993 and served on her family’s farm in as director of the Criminal Appeals Division Jackson County. She from 1999 to 2010. earned her bachelor’s degree from the Judge Tabor is a member of the Iowa State University of Iowa in Bar Association and the Blackstone Inn of 1985. She graduated Court. Judge Tabor is married and has two from the University of sons and one daughter. Iowa College of Law in 1991. 4 IOWA COURT OF APPEALS JUDGES Anuradha Vaitheswaran Iowa Court of Appeals Judge Judge Vaitheswaran was appointed to the district court.
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