House Journal: Page 58: Wednesday, January 12, 2000
- With your backing in the 1980s and 1990s, we advanced information technology
throughout the state’s court system to add management and case-processing
efficiencies, collect vital court information and facilitate public access.
- And with your cooperation, we greatly enhanced the development of Iowa case
law and the disposition of appeals by creating the Iowa Court of Appeals in 1976
and, more recently, restructuring the appellate courts.
The end of the 20th Century represented a culmination of innovation and reform for
the Iowa Judicial Branch. Now we should ask: what will be said of the beginning of
the 21st Century?
Lessons of the Past to Use in the Future: Planning, Commitment and Equal
Justice
Like many of you, I’ve spent a great deal of time trying to imagine what the future
will be like. And because we cannot see into the future, one of the best things we can
do is use the lessons of the past to help shape the future.
This morning, I’d like to share with you three important lessons, gained from
experience. Taken together they can make the promise of justice a reality for
generations to come. They are simple lessons. The first is to plan - being prepared.
The second is to be committed - our shared commitment to justice. And the third is to
be vigilant about equal justice - paying close attention to equal justice under the law.
To Plan
Let’s begin with planning.
Our world is dramatically different than it was in 1965, the year I was appointed to
the district court bench in southeastern Iowa. Back then, no one could have predicted
that Iowa now would be struggling with rampant methamphetamine abuse, sexually
violent predators and an exploding prison population; no one could have predicted
AIDS, crack babies and surrogate births; no one could have predicted urban sprawl,
road rage and traffic jams in Iowa. In the future, our court system will be challenged
to not only resolve the issues spawned by change, but to change itself to maintain its
vital role in our society.
Governed by precedent, courts have been slow to change when dealing with policy
or administrative matters. But because planning is so obviously in the public interest,
we have established, with your support, a court planning function to help us identify
emerging trends that will impact the courts, to design solutions to meet the challenges
that will arise and, most importantly, to implement those solutions. But being
prepared is only the starting point. The delivery of justice also demands the
commitment of all three branches of government. This brings me to the second lesson I
mentioned.
Our Shared Commitment to Justice
Our system of government calls on all three branches, in differing roles, to
contribute to the administration of justice. Our role is to promptly but carefully decide
cases according to law, equally to all. And we rely on Iowa’s hard-working judiciary
© 2000 Cornell College and
League of Women Voters of Iowa
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Last update: Wed Jan 19 13:35:00 CST 2000
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