The Johnson County Democrats have shut down an effort to censure their own county attorney. On Thursday night, the county central committee met at Carpenters Local 1260. The location, chosen to accommodate more people, wasn’t large enough.
In addition to committee members, local Democratic officials and party stalwarts, the back of the meeting room filled up with a younger crowd there to censure County Attorney Rachel Zimmermann Smith.
Zimmermann Smith is pursuing charges against Tara McGovern for blocking traffic and interfering with police during an October protest. Of the seven people originally charged, McGovern is the only one who didn’t accept a plea deal. McGovern goes to trial in March.
But the campaign to censure didn’t convince the voting members of the central committee.
MORE: Johnson County officials pressure county attorney to drop charges against protesters
“I’m confident that if this pattern of behavior was carried out by members of the other party (the Republican Party), we would loudly point out why this is unacceptable in a democratic society,” said Sheriff Brad Kunkel, speaking against the resolution. “And here we are talking about censuring the county attorney for carrying out her duties faithfully and impartially.”
The censure
The move to censure was brought by Johnson County Supervisor Jon Green. He argued the county attorney should exercise her discretion and drop the charges. Iowa City Council member Laura Bergus addressed the crowd.
“Cases are dismissed all the time. Prosecution is declined all the time. There is no obligation to pursue prosecution if the county attorney believes after considering all the facts and circumstances that it would be unjust,” Bergus said. “So what we’re really about here today is our county attorney believes this is just.”
It was already illegal to obstruct a street before the changes Reynolds signed into law in 2021. What changed was the penalty, which jumped from a simple misdemeanor to a serious one. Under a simple misdemeanor, courts can order a fine between $105 to $855, and while rare, the court can order imprisonment not to exceed 30 days instead of, or in addition to, the fine. Under a serious misdemeanor, the fine could range from $439 to $2,560 with potential imprisonment not to exceed one year.
Even with the harsher penalties, the charges have been used at least twice in Johnson County in non-protest circumstances.
Rep. Jarad Klein, R-Keota, was the bill’s House floor manager.
“We’re increasing penalties because apparently, the penalties we have in place today are not sufficient enough to deter violent protesting and rioting,” he told The Des Moines Register in 2021.
That legislative session came after summer 2020’s near-daily protests where Iowa City activists could be spotted marching through the streets. Not only were arrests not made then, but local law enforcement blocked some streets to keep cars from being on the road at the same time as protesters.
The vote
Caucus night was not a high-turnout event for Iowa Democrats. This can be blamed on many things — the -24 degree wind chill not being the least of it. And decisions made that night were key to understanding Thursday's vote.
While picking the party’s president was not on the slate, picking county central committee members was. At the 64 Johnson County Democratic Party caucus precincts, two central committee members were elected, as were their alternates. The universe of votes that could weigh in on the censure resolution was a tremendous 128, with alternates in the wing if people didn’t show up.
While the room was packed — the Zoom attendance distractingly pinging with newly admitted people — only 47 central committee members weighed in on the resolution to censure the county attorney. It failed 13 to 34 — just over 72% in the opposition.
Zimmermann Smith is not a voting committee member, but she was in the room to watch the deliberation. She declined to comment on the resolution. The case against McGovern is active and statements could impact adjudication.
McGovern was also present in the room for the vote. They called the process “illegitimate,” wondering why the people who showed up to support weren’t able to vote on the censure resolution. Quickly following the resolution's failure, the crowd that gathered to support the censure departed from the meeting.
“Drop the charges. Drop the party," they chanted.
The resolution's originator, Johnson County Supervisor Jon Green, was outside the building following the vote.
“Obviously I’m disappointed in the result,” he said. “But I did what I felt I needed to do.”
With the resolution dead in the water, Green said the effort to pressure the county attorney wasn’t finished. But he didn’t know what the future of that effort would bring.
