Senate Journal: Page 52: Wednesday, January 12, 2000

  safety of our constituents, the Judicial Branch, the Legislature, and the
  Governor,
  must work closely with each other, and with the counties, to fund courthouse
  security.

  The third concern that requires your continuing attention involves judicial
  resources.

  Last session, you instructed us to evaluate the soundness of the statutory
  judgeship
  formulas.  We have, and this is what we found.  The current methods for
  determining
  judgeship needs in Iowa are inadequate.  They are inadequate because they
  are based
  primarily upon population rather than caseload.  There is a huge gap between
  Iowa's
  population growth, which has been modest, and Iowa's caseload growth, which
  has
  skyrocketed.  The judicial formulas do not accurately measure need because
  they do
  not take into account the combined workloads of all levels of the trial
  court.  By that I
  mean the district court, district associate court, juvenile court, and
  magistrates.  The
  details of our evaluation are contained in our separate report to you.

  We recognize that the current judgeship formulas are statutory, and as such
  are
  your prerogative.  However, because judicial resources are so essential to
  the delivery
  of justice, the Supreme Court has taken steps to rework the judgeship
  formulas.  We
  plan to have the National Center for State Courts develop recommendations
  for new
  formulas.  I am confident that we can design for your consideration new
  judgeship
  formulas that will precisely measure the number of judges that the state
  needs.

  All of our needs, however, cannot be put off for study.  For the next fiscal
  year, we
  need more resources in a number of areas to keep pace with the public's
  demand for
  prompt court services.  The details of our most immediate needs are
  contained in our
  budget request that we have submitted to you.

  Of course, your commitment is crucial.  I'm sure that most of you recall the
  lean
  years of the early 1990s and how insufficient resources threatened to impede
  the
  delivery of justice.  Some of you may recall my address in 1993 when I
  reported that
  because of budget cuts and rising caseloads, the quality of justice in Iowa
  was at risk.
  Back then we weathered the tough times and working together avoided a
  crisis.

  I mention this only because it gave us two important lessons:  the serious
  consequences which can occur when the demand for access to court services is
  not met
  with sufficient resources, and the benefits to be derived when we share a
  commitment
  to the delivery of justice.

  Limited access to justice, whatever its cause, undermines public confidence
  in the
  court system and thereby all state government.  Public confidence in the
  court system
  also hinges on equal justice.  And to fulfill the promise of equal justice
  under the law
  requires vigilance-the third lesson.

  By equal justice, I mean our duty to administer the law impartially and
  equally
  regardless of gender, race, age, economic status, religion, or political
  affiliation.

  This principle was bolstered in 1962 when, with the approval of Iowa voters,
  our
  state constitution was amended to ensure that judges are selected based upon
  merit,
  legal knowledge, hard work, and temperament, not popularity.  Because of
  this far-
  sighted reform, Iowa has a high-caliber judiciary and Iowans are assured
  that judges
  owe their allegiance to the law and to nothing else.

© 2000 Cornell College and League of Women Voters of Iowa

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