2012 Profiles In Courage Awards

The three former Iowa Supreme Court Justices who were part of a unanimous decision in 2009 to legalize same-sex marriage in that state, and who subsequently lost their jobs when the voters ousted them, will all receive this year´s John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award on Monday.

According to the JFK Library website, 

 Former Iowa Chief Justice Marsha Ternus and former justices David Baker and Michael Streit were chosen in recognition of the political courage and judicial independence each demonstrated in setting aside popular opinion to uphold the basic freedoms and security guaranteed to all citizens under the Iowa constitution.

 Frank Bruni has an nice column today, based on an interview with  Marsha Ternus.

The Iowa Supreme Court Decision was unanimous, so I´m not sure why the award is only going to the three justices who were voted off the court.  The other four justices (it´s a seven-member court) showed an equal amount of courage in their votes.  Perhaps it is unseemly for a sitting justice to receive an award of this sort.

Iowa Supreme Court Justices serve for six years and face a retention vote just before the expiration of their terms.  The terms of the other four justices all expire in December 2012.  It is hard to believe, having tasted blood, that the same groups who organized nationwide to vote out the first three justices in 2010 won´t come back to try to do the same thing to the other four in November.  Let´s hope for a different result.