Edward M. Mansfield (born January 12, 1957) is a justice of the

Iowa Supreme Court The Iowa Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of Iowa. The Court is composed of a Chief Justice and six Associate Justices. The Court holds its regular sessions in Des Moines in the Iowa Judicial Branch Building located at 1111 ...

Education

Mansfield grew up in

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. His mother was a refugee from the

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. He graduated from

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, magna cum laude and

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, in 1978 and

Yale Law School Yale Law School (Yale Law or YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824 and has been ranked as the best law school in the United States by '' U.S. News & Worl ...

in 1982. During law school, Mansfield worked at the

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office of Sullivan & Worcester and at the

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office of O'Melveny & Myers. He declined offers from both firms to join them permanently.

Legal career

After law school Mansfield clerked for Judge Patrick Higginbotham of the

United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (in case citations, 5th Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following federal judicial districts: * Eastern District of Louisiana * M ...

before entering private practice. From 1983 to 1996, he practiced at Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1,608,139 residents as of 2020. It is the fifth-most populous city in the United States, and the on ...

, where he became a partner in 1988. He then moved to Des Moines for his wife's career and was a litigator at Belin McCormick P.C. from 1996 to 2009. In 1997, Mansfield started teaching as an adjunct professor at

Drake University Drake University is a private university in Des Moines, Iowa. It offers undergraduate and graduate programs, including professional programs in business, law, and pharmacy. Drake's law school is among the 25 oldest in the United States. His ...

. He has also served as the chairperson of the board of directors of

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of Central Iowa.

State judicial service

Mansfield was appointed by

Chet Culver Chester John Culver (born January 25, 1966) is an American politician who served one term as the 41st governor of Iowa, from 2007 to 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, he had previously served as the 29th secretary of state of Iowa from 199 ...

to the Iowa Court of Appeals in 2009.

Iowa Supreme Court

Mansfield was one of three justices appointed by Governor

Terry Branstad Terry Edward Branstad (born November 17, 1946) is an American politician and former diplomat. A member of the Republican Party, he served three terms in the Iowa House of Representatives from 1973 to 1979 before serving as governor of Iowa f ...

in 2011. 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''. 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. In 2016, Mansfield dissented when the Court found that the Iowa Constitution categorically prohibited life without parole for juveniles who committed first degree murder. In September 2016, Mansfield was named as a possible Supreme Court nominee by then-Presidential candidate

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...

References

External links