David Stewart Wiggins (born October 19, 1951) is a former 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

Wiggins was born in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

and graduated from

Niles East High School Niles East High School was a public 4–year school in Skokie, Illinois. Operated by Niles Township High Schools District 219, Niles East was first opened in 1938 and closed after the 1979–1980 school year. Niles East's sister schools Niles We ...

. He was the first in his family to attend college and received a bachelor's degree from the

University of Illinois at Chicago The University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) is a public research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its campus is in the Near West Side community area, adjacent to the Chicago Loop. The second campus established under the Universi ...

in 1973. He then attended

Drake University Law School Drake University Law School is the Law school in the United States, law school affiliated with Drake University, located in Des Moines, Iowa. Over 330 full-time students attend the institution. Roscoe Jones, Jr. serves as the dean of the Law Sch ...

While there, he was an associate editor of the ''

Drake Law Review Drake University Law School is the law school affiliated with Drake University, located in Des Moines, Iowa. Over 330 full-time students attend the institution. Roscoe Jones, Jr. serves as the dean of the Law School. Founded in 1865, Drake Law ...

''. He graduated with honors and

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 ...

in 1976.

Legal career

Wiggins began his career with the

Des Moines Des Moines is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Iowa, most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is the county seat of Polk County, Iowa, Polk County with parts extending into Warren County, Iowa, Wa ...

based firm Williams, Hart, Lavorato & Kirtley. He made partner in 1979. The firm was eventually renamed Wiggins, Anderson, & Tully. As a private practitioner, Wiggins served on the Iowa Commission on Judicial Qualifications, the Supreme Court Advisory Commission on Judicial Redistricting, the Supreme Court Advisory Committee on Rules of Civil Procedure, and the Supreme Court Committee on the Cost of Litigation. Wiggins also served on the Board of Governors of the

Iowa State Bar Association The Iowa State Bar Association is a voluntary bar association for the state of Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east ...

, was president of the Iowa Trial Lawyers Association, was senior counsel for the American College of Barristers, and was master emeritus of the C. Edwin Moore

American Inns of Court American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

Iowa Supreme Court

He was appointed by Governor

Tom Vilsack Thomas James Vilsack (; born December 13, 1950) is an American politician. He served as the 30th and 32nd United States secretary of agriculture from 2009 to 2017, during the Obama administration, and again from 2021 to 2025 during the Biden admi ...

to the Supreme Court in 2003. He was the first Jewish Justice on the Iowa Supreme Court. As the senior Associate Justice, Wiggins chaired the Iowa State Judicial Nominating Commission from 2011 until

Kim Reynolds Kimberly Kay Reynolds (née Strawn, August 4, 1959) is an American politician from Iowa. A Republican, Reynolds has served since 2017 as the 43rd governor of Iowa. She is the first female governor in Iowa history. Reynolds was elected Clarke ...

changed the Commission's structure to remove him as the chair and strengthen the governor's control of the committee. Following the death of Chief Justice

Mark Cady Mark Steven Cady (July 12, 1953 – November 15, 2019) was an American jurist. He served on the Iowa Supreme Court for 21 years from 1998 to 2019. From 2011 to 2019, he was the chief justice of the court. He was the author of the court's opinion i ...

, Wiggins was acting Chief Justice from November 21, 2019 to February 24, 2020. While serving as Chief Justice, Wiggins announced his intention to retire on March 13, 2020.

2012 retention

Wiggins' term was scheduled to end on December 31, 2012. Wiggins had supported the 2009 '' Varnum v. Brien'' which declared the ban on

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 ...

unconstitutional. In the 2010 election, three justices who had supported the decision were ousted, and Wiggins faced a major retention fight in 2012. Wiggins was retained in 2012 with 54.61% of the vote.

References

External links

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1951 births Living people 21st-century American judges Iowa lawyers Justices of the Iowa Supreme Court Lawyers from Chicago University of Illinois Chicago alumni Drake University Law School alumni {{Iowa-bio-stub