Turns out, somebody posted a link in the comments to this State 29 story back in December 2005 about Judge Baker (when he was a District Court Judge) giving a suspended sentence to an intoxicated driver who drove nearly 100 mph down a Cedar Rapids street in 2004, hit two people, and killed one of them (Abby Bowman) by severing her body in half.
Granted, the Cedar Rapids Police, prosecutors, and the State really screwed up this case, as you'll read. But there was no justice whatsoever for Abby Bowman or her friend Kaneilyas Hamilton who narrowly missed death with just a sprained left foot. Judge David Baker found Larry Zaruba guilty, but chose to suspend the 10 year prison sentence. Hell, Baker didn't even revoke Zaruba's driver's license! (see Trial Court ID 06571 FECR058659).
Tom Vilsack was such a goddamned disaster for Iowa. He was the one who appointed Baker to the Iowa Supreme Court. I knew Iowans would be cleaning up after Vilsack's messes for decades.
And shine a light on the Iowa Judicial Nominating Commission, comprised of 86% Democrats, for picking Judge Baker.
This is why elections matter, people. It's not necessarily about gay marriage or whatever crap Bob Vander Plaats wants it to be about. Removing Judge Baker was a good thing. I'm sure there were many more cases involving Judge Baker where criminals got off with suspended sentences.
No doubt, you are correct about this judge, but this election was about punishing judges who ruled fairly for gays under the law--it was an attempt to bully judges into helping them hurt us. The media focus is correctly placed even if this process managed to remove a bad judge.
ReplyDeleteYou're correct, Thorne Cassidy, but I feel better about Justice David Baker's ouster now that I know how he ruled in the drunk driving case of Larry Zaruba. We don't need judges who suspend 10-year prison sentences for criminals who will only go on to kill more people by driving drunk.
ReplyDeleteI thought once a drunk driver killed someone, he couldn't avoid going to prison. This story about Judge Baker's poor judgment is a really shocking tale of judicial malfeasance.
That was me that posted your link on KCRG. :)
ReplyDelete"Barbrady"
PS. Thanks for all the great reading on your blog.