Marsha K. Ternus is an American lawyer who served as 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 ...

from September 7, 1993, to December 31, 2010. As a Justice, Ternus was part of the unanimous Iowa Supreme Court ruling legally recognizing

same-sex marriage in Iowa Same-sex marriage in Iowa has been legally recognized since a decision of the Iowa Supreme Court on April 3, 2009. Marriage licenses became available to same-sex couples on April 27. In 2005, six same-sex couples who were denied marriage licenses ...

, and was removed from office after a judicial

retention election A judicial retention election (or retention referendum) is a periodic process in some jurisdictions whereby a judge is subject to a referendum held at the same time as a general election. The judge is removed from office if a majority of votes ar ...

, following campaigning by groups opposed to

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...

including the

National Organization for Marriage The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) is an American non-profit political organization established to work against the legalization of same-sex marriage in the United States. It was formed in 2007 specifically to pass California Proposi ...

. In 2012, Ternus received a

Profile in Courage Award The Profile in Courage Award is a private award given to recognize displays of courage similar to those John F. Kennedy originally described in his book of the same name. It is given to individuals (often elected officials) who, by acting in acc ...

from the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation, along with fellow Justices David L. Baker and Michael Streit. From 2013 to 2016, she was Director of the Harkin Institute for Public Policy.

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* Justices of the Iowa Supreme Court Living people Women chief justices of state supreme courts in the United States Year of birth missing (living people) Chief Justices of the Iowa Supreme Court Drake University Law School alumni University of Iowa alumni 20th-century American women judges 20th-century American judges 21st-century American women judges 21st-century American judges Iowa Women's Hall of Fame Inductees {{Iowa-state-judge-stub