For the second time in 2018, a justice from the Supreme Court of Iowa will be leaving the bench.
Justice Daryl Hecht, Sloan, announced his intention to resign from the supreme court December 13. Justice Hecht has been hearing oral arguments in Des Moines while receiving treatment for melanoma in Sioux City and at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.
Justice Hecht was unable to sit for the November 13 and 14 oral arguments due to the side effects of the melanoma treatment. After discussions with his family, Justice Hecht determined it was essential for him to commit all of his energy to battling the disease.
“I am grateful to Justice Daryl Hecht for his nearly 20 years of service to the State of Iowa as an appeals court judge and then Supreme Court justice,” Gov. Kim Reynolds said in a statement. “I respect and support his choice to focus on health amid this battle with cancer. I am sure the decision was not an easy one to make, and I wish him and the entire Hecht family only the best as they turn their full attention to his health.”
Raised on a family farm near Lytton, Justice Hecht received his bachelor’s degree from Morningside College in 1974 and his J.D. degree from the University of South Dakota in 1977. He received his L.L.M. degree from the University of Virginia Law School in 2004.
Justice Hecht practiced law in Sioux City for 22 years before his appointment to the court of appeals in 1999, where he served until his appointment to the supreme court by Governor Tom Vilsack in 2006.
Justice Hecht is married with two daughters and three grandchildren.
Justice Bruce Zager retired from the Supreme Court of Iowa in September, and was replaced by Justice Susan Christensen.
