Recent victories prove courts' importance

As Iowans, we are profoundly aware of the courts’ importance. In April 2009, we witnessed history as the Iowa Supreme Court unanimously ruled in favor of marriage for gay and lesbian couples. As a community, we celebrated the Iowa Supreme Court and its impartial ruling upholding the state constitution and the promise of equal protection for all. We also recognized something important—without the courts, marriage equality might not exist for Iowa.  

In addition, the recent United States Supreme Court ruling on July 29, 2013, furthered marriage equality. In United States v. Windsor, Section 3 of the so-called Defense of Marriage Act was found unconstitutional, a deprivation of the equal liberty of persons protected by the Fifth Amendment.

With even more recent rulings in favor of marriage equality from the federal courts in Utah and Oklahoma, it’s becoming more and more apparent that the courts really do matter. (Both cases in Utah and Oklahoma, coincidentally, are now headed to the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, one of the most politically divided appeals courts in the nation.) But the courts don’t just matter for those of us working for LGBT equality. The courts matter to everyone.

All of us—no matter who we are or what part of the country we live in—have been affected by a state or federal court decision of some kind. If you care about racial equality issues, then the courts should matter to you. If you care about a woman’s right to make her own health care decisions, then the courts should matter to you. If you care about the environment, then the courts should matter to you. The courts touch virtually every aspect of our lives.

We also know that a diverse federal judiciary bench improves the quality of justice for all. As a member of the Iowa Fair Courts Coalition, I value a strong judiciary that includes judges who are fair, competent, and who have a wide breadth of experiences. We deserve a judiciary that will not be politicized. Iowa became all too familiar with this in the misguided 2010 ouster campaign that removed three competent and fair judges from our state’s highest court. We also saw an attempt to remove a fourth justice in 2012, which ultimately failed. 

It is not enough that we passively sit back and watch the courts make the kind of decisions that will have a lasting impact on our lives and the lives of our children. As an American, as an Iowan and as someone with a deep appreciation for all that fair courts have done to uphold our constitutional protections over the years, I urge you to take on a more active role. 

Learn about the courts and why they are an important component to the issues you care most about. It is essential that we come together and advocate for a robust and healthy judiciary that values civil liberties, equality under the law, and above all else—justice.

Learn more about the Iowa Fair Courts Coalition at whycourtsmatteriowa.org or call us at 515-288-4019.