David Lee Baker (born 1952) is an American lawyer and judge 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 2008 to 2010. Prior to his time in the state's supreme court, he served as a District Court judge for the Sixth Judicial District and on the Iowa Court of Appeals.

Education

Baker attended high school at

Waterloo West High School Waterloo West High School is one of three public high schools under the auspices of the Waterloo Community School District in Waterloo, Iowa. The school is located at the intersection of E. Ridgeway Ave. and Baltimore Ave. Mascot The school ma ...

Waterloo, Iowa Waterloo is a city in and the county seat of Black Hawk County, Iowa, Black Hawk County, Iowa, United States. As of the 2020 United States census the population was 67,314, making it the List of cities in Iowa, eighth-most populous city in the st ...

, graduating in 1971. He attended Luther College from 1971 to 1973 before transferring to the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (U of I, UIowa, or Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized int ...

. While attending Luther, Baker was a member of the swim team and the Community Assembly. Baker graduated undergraduate and law school at the University of Iowa, receiving his bachelor's degree in 1975 with Honors in Sociology and his

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

degree in 1979 with high honors,

Order of the Coif The Order of the Coif () is an American honor society for law school graduates. The Order was founded in 1902 at the University of Illinois College of Law. The name is a reference to the ancient English order of trial lawyers, the serjeants-at-la ...

Career

Following graduation from law school, Baker worked as a lawyer in private practice for twenty-five years. In 2005 Baker was appointed as a District Court Judge for the Sixth Judicial District. He was appointed to the Iowa Court of Appeals in 2006 where he served until his appointment to the

in 2008. As a Justice, Baker was part of the unanimous Iowa Supreme Court ruling, Varnum v. Brien, legally recognizing

same-sex marriage in Iowa Same-sex marriage has been legally recognized in Iowa since a decision of the Iowa Supreme Court on April 3, 2009. Marriage licenses became available to same-sex couples on April 27. This ruling was the result of a lawsuit filed in 2005 by six ...

, and was removed from office after a judicial retention election, 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 legal Legal sex and gender, sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 ...

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 Propos ...

. In 2011, Baker received The

Louise Noun Louise Frankel Rosenfield Noun (March 7, 1908 – August 23, 2002) was a feminist, social activist, philanthropist, and civil libertarian. An Iowa native, Noun wrote extensively on the history of feminism in Iowa and the United States, writing ...

Award, given annually by the

ACLU The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is an American nonprofit civil rights organization founded in 1920. ACLU affiliates are active in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. The budget of the ACLU in 2024 was $383 million. ...

of Iowa to honor people who have contributed significantly to the defense of civil liberties. In 2012, Baker received a

Profile in Courage Award The Profile in Courage Award is a private award created by the Kennedy family 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 offici ...

from the

John F. Kennedy Library Foundation The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum is the presidential library and museum of John F. Kennedy (1917–1963), the 35th president of the United States (1961–1963). It is located on Columbia Point in the Dorchester neighborhoo ...

, along with fellow justices Marsha K. Ternus and

Michael J. Streit Michael John Streit (born April 14, 1950) is former justice of the Iowa Supreme Court. Education Streit was born and raised in Sheldon, Iowa. He received his bachelor's degree in economics from the University of Iowa in 1972, and his Juris Doc ...

. In his acceptance speech he stated "The three of us up for retention made a deliberate decision not to form campaign committees." Justice Baker was an Adjunct Faculty Member at

Iowa Law The Code of Iowa contains the statutory laws of the U.S. state of Iowa. The Iowa Legislative Service Bureau is a non-partisan governmental agency that organizes, updates, and publishes the Iowa Code. It is republished in full every odd year, and i ...

until 2019. He was a member of the Iowa Judicial Nominating Commission from 2012 to 2018 and the Cedar Rapids Board of Ethics.

References

External links

* 1956 births 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century American lawyers 21st-century American state court judges Living people Iowa lawyers Justices of the Iowa Supreme Court Luther Norse athletes People from Muscatine, Iowa People from Waterloo, Iowa University of Iowa alumni University of Iowa College of Law alumni University of Iowa College of Law faculty Date of birth missing (living people) {{Iowa-bio-stub