Two Iowa jurists are among more than 150 former state and federal judges who wrote to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi this week “to condemn the Trump Administration’s attacks on the judiciary,” including the April 25 arrest of Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan.
Former U.S. District Court Judge Mark W. Bennett served in the Northern District of Iowa from 1994 to 2019, when he retired. Former Iowa Supreme Court Chief Justice Marsha Ternus served on Iowa’s highest court from 1993 through 2010, the last four years as chief justice. She left the bench after Iowa voters did not retain her and two other justices in the aftermath of the court’s unanimous Varnum v Brien ruling on marriage equality.
“YET ANOTHER ATTEMPT TO INTIMIDATE AND THREATEN THE JUDICIARY”
The May 5 letter, enclosed in full below, called Judge Dugan’s arrest “yet another attempt to intimidate and threaten the judiciary after a series of rulings by judges appointed by presidents of both parties holding the Trump Administration accountable for its countless violations of the Constitution and laws of the United States.” The former judges, who are members of both parties, noted that Bondi had publicly called judges “deranged” and warned, “we will come after you and we will prosecute you.”
The retired judges questioned the decision “to create an embarrassing spectacle that included the FBI’s arrest and handcuffing of Judge Dugan and the Director of the FBI, Kash Patel, posting a photo of the perp walk on X.” They argued that “the administration could have easily issued a summons for Judge Dugan to appear before a court, as they would have done in other white collar cases.” In addition, Justice Department policy directs personnel not to disclose photos of a defendant unless doing so “serves a law enforcement function,” or the image is already in the public record.
The jurists characterized the arrest as “an effort to threaten and intimidate the state and federal judiciaries into submitting to the Administration, instead of interpreting the Constitution and laws of the United States. This cynical effort undermines the rule of law and destroys the trust the American people have in the nation’s judges to administer justice in the courtrooms and in the halls of justice across the land.” They predicted the “attempt to intimidate the judiciary will fail.”
“AN ALL-OUT ATTACK ON THE COMPONENTS OF THE COURT SYSTEM”
Bleeding Heartland reached out to both Iowans who signed the letter for additional comments; they replied via email on May 7.
Judge Bennett observed, “President Trump and his administration have every right to appeal adverse rulings they disagree with. However, their relentless personal attacks on federal judges who invalidate his executive orders, even by judges he appointed, undermines century old democratic values about the importance of checks and balances in our three branches of government and the vital role the judiciary plays in preserving our enduring freedoms.”
Regarding Judge Dugan’s arrest, Justice Ternus said, “I do not know the facts of what happened in her courtroom to comment on whether a warrant for her arrest was justified. I can say, however, that the manner of her arrest was made in an unnecessarily and inappropriately dramatic fashion.” She views the incident as “part of this administration’s efforts to intimidate the judiciary.”
Along those lines, Justice Ternus shared excerpts from remarks she recently delivered (before Judge Dugan’s arrest) on the topic of the rule of law. In that speech, she explained how Trump is “waging an all-out attack on the components of the court system to undermine its effectiveness and to undermine the public’s confidence in the court.” For instance, “He has blacklisted lawyers and law firms that have employed people who tried to investigate the President or who have represented his prior rivals.” He “has retaliated against prosecutors, including those who investigated the January 6, 2021, Capitol attacks.”
Trump has also called for impeaching judges who ruled against his administration’s position. Justice Ternus observed, “Historically, impeachment has been limited ‘to cases of serious ethical or criminal misconduct,’ not because the judge wrote a decision the President didn’t like.”
Such actions “send an intimidating message to others in similar positions,” the former chief justice told her audience. Blacklisting attorneys “signals to other lawyers and law firms that opposing this administration in court could be financially catastrophic. And how does one vindicate one’s constitutional rights in court if skilled lawyers are not willing to take your case?”
Finally, Justice Ternus expressed concern that the Trump administration may ignore court rulings.
By expressing disdain for judges and the courts, by characterizing judges who make decisions with which he disagrees as “crooked,” “A lunatic,” “an agitator” and by calling for their removal, this administration is undermining the public’s confidence that the court’s decisions are fair and neutral and should be obeyed. He is priming the public to side with him or at least to sympathize with him when he finally decides to simply thumb his nose at the courts. We cannot let that happen. If a president is unconstrained by court decisions, the judicial branch is just mere window dressing, and everyone’s rights and freedoms are at risk.
Federal judges have temporarily blocked more than a dozen Trump administration actions related to deportations, cuts to federal agencies, funding, or grants, and policies targeting transgender people. However, at this writing none of the more than 220 lawsuits filed against the administration has resulted in a final ruling on the merits of the claims.
Appendix: Full text of May 5 letter to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, signed by more than 150 former state and federal judges
Top photos of Judge Mark Bennett and Chief Justice Marsha Ternus were originally published on their websites (see here and here).