If you were the judge, how would you judge this case about gender quotas for nominating judges? I’m Amy E. Feldman.
In Iowa, judges are selected by commission and under Iowa law, there’s a gender quota on the members of that commission. Based on the requirements, the new commissioner in one of the districts has to be a woman, while the new commissioner in another has to be a man to maintain the gender balance required by that law. One woman who wants to be nominated in a district that requires a man, and one man, who wants to be nominated in a woman-only district, are co-plaintiffs in the lawsuit against that law.
While gender quotas are not illegal in every case, in general a law cannot disadvantage a person solely on the basis of his or her gender. I’ll give you this, this law has managed to discriminate against both men and women. Which can’t possibly be the kind of success lawmakers were going for. Now a judge, presumably one already chosen by this committee, will decide.
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