Why One State Legislator Skipped the Condition of the Judiciary Address

Not every state legislator stayed in the Iowa House Chamber to listen to the Chief Justice of the Iowa Supreme Court Mark S. Cady give the state of the judiciary address on Wednesday morning. State Senator Jason Schultz (R-Schleswig) passed on attending. In a message to his constituents on his Facebook page he explained why:

The day following the the Governor’s Condition of the State address, the Legislature receives the Condition of the Judiciary speech from the Chief Justice of the Iowa Supreme Court. I’m sitting this one out on behalf of the citizens of Senate District 9.

In the 2012 elections, Iowans exercised their constitutional right to remove three state supreme court justices for their rewriting of Iowa law concerning marriage. Two months later citizens of Iowa, through their legislators, were talked down to and lectured by the Chief Justice for voting to punish judicial activism.

The following year taxpayers were scolded through their legislators for not giving the judiciary as much money as they demanded. Scolded was a common description I heard from my colleagues. Iowans deserve better than that.

Last year we were told that instead of justice being blind, the judicial branch would consider the race and ethnicity of criminal suspects in pursuing justice. I want justice to be blind, and if there is a disparity in treatment, I want it fixed. By the people and their representatives. Judges can apply the law, not decide to who and when the law applies.

This year I will not attend another condescending lecture in the name of the citizens of Western Iowa. You deserve better than to be talked to like that. If changes are needed, they may ask for bills to be submitted and considered like anyone else. Their concerns would be and are respectfully considered if offered without the tone.