Judge Mary Howes of Davenport, IA; ethical goblin

The state of Iowa provided Mary Howes with a law license in 1982 after she graduated from the University of Iowa School of Law.

FYI: Mary has had her significant snout firmly implanted in the public trough for the past thirty-four (34) years. Apparently, no self-respecting law firm in the greater Davenport area was about to offer Mary a good paying job.

The Judicial Qualifications Commission found Mary guilty of the following misconduct.

• Signed an ex parte (one-sided) temporary restraining order presented to her by an attorney who had represented the judge in May 2013 in a post-divorce dispute between the judge and her ex-spouse
• Failed to recuse herself from signing an order presented to the judge by the attorney who had recently represented her
• Engaged in an egregious conflict of interest
• Admitted she accepted a prohibited gift of free legal services from the attorney who represented her in her divorce and post-divorce legal matters
• Failed to promote public confidence in the impartiality of the judiciary
• Failed to avoid impropriety or the appearance of impropriety

As a direct consequence of her misconduct, the enablers for Judicial Misfits sitting on the Iowa Supreme Court punished Mary by gifting her with a complimentary reprimand.

As we speak (ca. January 2020), Mary continues to sit as a Scott County District Court judge in Davenport, Iowa.