Edward Mansfield (judge)
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Edward Mansfield | |
|---|---|
| Associate Justice of the Iowa Supreme Court | |
| Assumed office February 23, 2011 | |
| Appointed by | Terry Branstad |
| Preceded by | Michael Streit |
| Personal details | |
| Born | January 12, 1957 Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Education | Harvard University (BA) Yale University (JD) |
Edward M. Mansfield (born January 12, 1957) is an American lawyer who is a justice of the Iowa Supreme Court.[1]
Mansfield grew up in Massachusetts.[2] His mother was a refugee from the Soviet Union.[3] He graduated from Harvard College, magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, in 1978 and Yale Law School in 1982.[4][5] During law school, Mansfield worked at the Boston office of Sullivan & Worcester and at the Los Angeles office of O'Melveny & Myers. He declined offers from both firms to join them permanently.[5]
Career
After law school Mansfield clerked for Judge Patrick Higginbotham of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit before entering private practice.[1] From 1983 to 1996, he practiced at Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie in Phoenix, Arizona, where he became a partner in 1988.[5] He then moved to Des Moines for his wife's career and was a litigator at Belin McCormick P.C. from 1996 to 2009.[6][3] In 1997, Mansfield started teaching as an adjunct professor at Drake University. He has also served as the chairperson of the board of directors of Goodwill Industries of Central Iowa.[1]
Judicial career
State court of appeals service
Mansfield was appointed by Chet Culver to the Iowa Court of Appeals in 2009.[1]
Iowa Supreme Court
Mansfield was one of three justices appointed by Governor Terry Branstad in 2011.[7] In November 2010, Iowa voters had removed all three justices seeking reelection in response to the court unanimously legalizing same-sex marriage in Varnum v. Brien.[8]
In 2012, Mansfield authored an opinion for the court which found a dentist did not commit gender discrimination when, at the insistence of his wife, he fired a dental assistant to whom he was sexually attracted.[9][10] In 2016, Mansfield dissented when the Court found that the Iowa Constitution categorically prohibited life without parole for juveniles who committed first degree murder.[7]
In September 2016, Mansfield was named as a possible nominee for the Supreme Court of the United States by then-presidential candidate Donald Trump.[11]
