1998 vs. 2018 “The Changing Role of Our Court”
John Cortesio introduced our keynote speaker, Iowa Supreme Court Justice Edward Mansfield. Married and the father of three, he graduated from Harvard and then Yale law school and was an attorney in private practice at the Belin firm for 13 years. In 2011 he was named to the Iowa Supreme Court.
Comparing the Court’s workload in 2018 with 1998, Justice Mansfield noted that 20 years ago they heard 251 cases while this past year there were only 97 cases. For the most part, the justices get to select which cases they hear and that impacts the totals. In a number of categories – probate, insurance, and business law – there are fewer as these have moved to other legal venues.
The bulk of the Court’s work centers - as it always has - around issues of attorney discipline, personal injury, general criminal law, employment, and constitutional items. Those totals have remained relatively the same over the past 20 years. What has changed is the length of opinions, thanks in part to computers which allow more research. In addition, dissents have increased in size and number with 15 in 1998 versus 23 in 2018.
A good part of the justices’ time is taken up with actually running the Court. Justice Mansfield said the seven of them spend more time on non-judicial items, such as personnel, budgets, meeting with lawyers and legislators then ever before. As an example, he noted the effort to keep courthouses open and staffed, especially in rural area.
Thanks, Justice Mansfield, for giving us a “behind-the-scenes” look at this very important state entity and for your personal service!
The February 21 meeting at the Wakonda Country Club was opened by President Shawn Mullen. He also introduced our newest member, Andy Bretz. Janet Phipps Burkhead led us in the invocation, Pledge of Allegiance, and 4-Way Test while Ganesh Ganpat welcomed our guests.