No looking back for federal judge

As a young boy he witnessed segregation firsthand. That was after his mother died and Tessie, a black nanny, came into the home, and he saw the unfairness of the world through her eyes.

'It had an enormous impact on my life,' U.S. District Judge Mark Bennett said as he sat comfortably on the sofa in his Sioux City chambers two weeks ago. 'I aspired to be a civil rights lawyer. I knew it in the sixth grade.'

He reached that sixth-grade goal and exceeded it, spending two decades on the federal bench. But now he's ready to step back — sort of.

He is the only judge who unabashedly bares his heart

- Leon Spies

Criminal defense attorney

He sent a letter to President Barack Obama last year, saying he would retire or take senior status June 4 — his 65th birthday. But because he never identified with the word 'retirement,' he ultimately opted instead for senior status, which allows him to continue hearing cases without the full workload of a traditional federal judge.

Asked whether he made the decision last year so that retiring Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, might be the one to make a recommendation on Bennett's replacement, the judge just smiled and laughed.

It wouldn't have mattered in any case, as Harkin's recommendation on a replacement was left behind with the shift in political winds. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, made a different recommendation in April — U.S. Magistrate Leonard Strand of Sioux City.

Grassley, in a statement last week, said the vetting process is underway for Strand. But Bennett already is convinced that Strand will be an excellent judge.

"His rulings are always thorough and well-reasoned, but they are not necessarily predictable"

- Retired U.S. Magistrate Paul Zoss

On Bennett's rulings

Even though judges usually reduce their caseload on senior status, Bennett will continue with a full-time caseload until he's replaced. The judge said he didn't want to put an unfair workload on Chief Judge Linda Reade.

It's a gesture that Reade appreciates. She said Wednesday it would be 'very difficult, if not impossible' for her to manage the caseload if Bennett didn't continue full time.

Tragedy strikes

Bennett became a lawyer in 1975, pursuing civil rights and employment discrimination litigation. Bennett worked in a firm with two best friends in the basement of the Polk County Legal Aid Society.

'We started with nothing,' Bennett said as his face seemed to light up remembering it. 'We had no clients. I'm glad that I was naive …

(and) didn't know I couldn't do it.'

But a tragedy eventually turned his attention toward serving as a judge.

'I had a child die,' he said.

Even now it is difficult for him to talk about. He and his wife had twins, a son and daughter, but his son died eight hours later.

His daughter's photo was prominently displayed on a shelf behind him during the interview.

But that unpredictable tragedy changed his focus, and he left private practice and pursued a judgeship.

He served as a federal magistrate and in 1994 was appointed as a district judge for Iowa's Northern District by President Bill Clinton.

Bennett since has presided over many complex criminal and civil trials, sentenced more than 4,000 criminal offenders and has been instrumental in bringing new technology into the district's courtrooms. As chief judge from 2000 to 2007, he also was involved with the design of the new federal courthouse and remained part of the project through construction in 2012.

Bennett has gained national attention for his hundreds of published opinions and his numerous writings for law review journals and other publications.

He 'bares his heart'

'His rulings are always thorough and well-reasoned, but they are not necessarily predictable,' retired U.S. Magistrate Paul Zoss said. 'He rules on each issue only after carefully analyzing the applicable law and then applying the law to the specific facts relating to the issue.'

'He is the only judge who unabashedly bares his heart,' longtime Iowa City criminal defense attorney Leon Spies said. 'It's an outgrowth of where he's been and a reflection of his love of the courts and jury system — his love of justice.'

He's been an outspoken judge. In 2009, Bennett took a stance against mandatory minimums for drug offenses.

He based sentences for crack cocaine on guidelines used for powder cocaine, which garnered less prison time. The sentencing guidelines for crack, which were much harsher, eventually changed in 2010.

Today the judge is modest when he talks about cases or his opinions, stressing the smaller ones are just as important as the high-profile ones. But one case comes to mind, he recalled, because it involves the only Iowa man on death row, Dustin Honken, a drug kingpin who in 1993 murdered three witnesses and two children in Mason City. Bennett sentenced him to death in 2005.

He has no regrets in his career and doesn't spend much time looking back.

'When you love your work, it goes quickly,' he said.

AT A GLANCE

Name: U.S. District Judge Mark W. Bennett

Age: 65

Education: Bachelors of Art, Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter Minn., 1972; Juris Doctorate, Drake University Law School, 1975

Experience: Babich, Bennett and Nickerson, 1975-1991; appointed U.S. Magistrate in Southern District of Iowa, 1991-1994; appointed U.S. District Judge for Northern District, 1994; chief judge, 1999-2006

Has taught law classes at Drake, University of Nebraska and at William S. Richardson School of Law in Hawaii

Served as avisiting judge in other federal court districts including District of the Northern Mariana Islands (Saipan), 2010 and 2011; District of Arizona, Tucson, 2011-2014, and in Phoenix, 2014; 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, 2010-2014, and the Middle District of Florida in 2014; and on several times in the Southern District of Iowa

Senior status: June 4, 2015