Chief Justice Marsha Ternus: An Inside Look at the Tenure of Iowa's Former Chief Justice

Abstract

This paper will examine Ternus’ voting trends during her time as Chief Justice of the Iowa Supreme Court, from September 2006 to December 2010. In Part II, the Chief Justice’s upbringing and career path will be discussed. Part III will provide a brief overview of the history and composition of the Iowa Supreme Court. Then, in Part IV, Ternus’ voting patterns will be studied in two important ways. First, opinions authored by Ternus will be reviewed. Here, split decisions will be scrutinized more closely. Then, the sole dissent authored by Ternus as Chief Justice will be examined. Next, cases regarding child welfare will be evaluated. Additionally, comparisons will be drawn in terms of the number of child welfare cases decided on Ternus’ bench versus those decided on Chief Justice Lavorato’s bench, Ternus’ immediate predecessor. The methodology for each portion will be explained in the footnotes. An emphasis will be placed on cases that most accurately depict areas where the Chief Justice has a particular interest.