2012 Annual Dinner,
Guest Speaker

David Baker speaks at Annual Dinner.

Justice David Baker of the Iowa Supreme Court was dumped in 2010 by voters incensed about the court's controversial opinion permitting same-sex marriage, who responded to an ouster drive funded heavily by out-of-state groups.

Almost a year later former Justice Baker has received a national tribute in a Huffmgton Post column by Andrea Lyon, who teaches law at DePaul University. Justice Baker participated in a symposium there on judicial independence, cosponsored by the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. Here is the heart of Lyon's tribute: "What was amazing during this conference ... was hearing from Justice Baker, hearing his view of what had happened to him and his colleagues, and hearing the intelligence, humility, humanity and intellectual acumen with which he dissected the cause of the vote, and the ominous effects it may have going forward."

In continuing to applaud Justice Baker, Lyon put the Iowa retention election in context by quoting JAS Executive Director Bert Brandenburg, another participant in the conference: "Where there might have been outrage, there was measured sorrow and concern. Where there might have been self-pity, there was a call to arms for those concerned about what Mr. Brandenburg aptly termed 'the most important political issue almost no one has heard of.' Where there might have been some measure of self-promotion, there was only concern about the courts, and fairness and justice.Justice Baker demonstrated one thing very clearly; he is just the sort of person who should be on the bench." -- The Gavel Grab