IOWA: Lawsuit Seeks To Overturn Ouster Of Pro-Equality Supreme Court Justices

A lawsuit has been filed in Iowa claiming that the retention vote that resulted in the ouster of three state Supreme Court justices was illegal. According to the suit, by state law that issue should have been on a separate ballot.

The ballot used Nov. 2 included the names of the justices standing for retention on the back of a single sheet, "combined with other elections, nonpartisan offices, Constitutional questions and public measures," the lawsuit says. Thomas W. George, John P. Roehrick and Carlton Salmons are asking for a temporary judicial order that would bar the justices from leaving the Supreme Court when their terms end Dec. 31. The attorneys are suing Democratic Secretary of State Michael Mauro, who, as elections commissioner, is responsible for state voting and ballot practices.

RELATED: Last week an anti-gay group filed suit demanding that the public be allowed to vote on the appointments of state Supreme Court judges.

(Tipped by JMG reader Bruce)