Press Release for Immediate Review
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
PeaceMakers Institute President, Rev. Cary Gordon, has filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice against Iowa 5th Judicial District Polk 
County Judge, Robert Hansen. Judge Hansen stated, “an effort to oust three judges for their role in striking down Iowa’s ban on same-sex marriage is at best misguided and at worst an abuse of the system.”
Rev. Gordon expressed concern today stating, “Judge Hansen has engaged in voter suppression and intimidation by attempting to discourage citizens from exercising their right to vote. Through his actions, Judge Hansen made it very clear to me that the fundamental right of citizens to hold courts accountable by exercising their right to vote is under attack by the judiciary itself.”
The voting Rights Act of 1965 commands that “no person, whether acting under color of law or otherwise, shall intimidate, threaten, coerce or attempt to intimidate, threaten or coerce any person from voting or attempting to vote.” 42 U.S.C. § 1973i.
“Judge Hansen’s public comments in a newspaper are particularly troubling because he is a sitting judge, a person of considerable power, and is accusing anyone who votes “No” on retention of abusing the voting process,” said Rev. Gordon. “Any attorneys, businesses, or citizens who regularly appear or might appear before this judge will certainly feel pressure to not participate in the election and not assist others participating in the election. This type of behavior, from a sitting judge, is very alarming.”
With regard to the value of Iowa’s retention process, PeaceMakers Institute takes the position of John Dickinson, signer of the Constitution: “[W]hat innumerable acts of injustice may be committed – and how fatally may the principles of liberty be [shattered] – by a succession of judges utterly independent of the people?[i] [Emphasis Added].
[i] John Dickinson, Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania to the Inhabitants of the British Colonies (New York: The Outlook Company, 1903), p. 92, Letter IX
