A former U.S. Attorney and current Assistant U.S. Attorney are among 61 people who have applied for the three open seats on the Iowa Supreme Court.

Matt Dummermuth (gov)

Matt Dummermuth took office as the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Iowa in January 2007, at the age of 33, under a controversial provision of the Patriot Act — since rescinded — that effectively allowed the White House to install a U.S. Attorney without going through the Senate confirmation process. Then-President George W. Bush sent Dummermuth’s nomination to the Senate in December 2007, but he didn’t answer questions to the satisfaction of Judiciary Committee Democrats and failed to win confirmation.

In November 2010, Dummermuth resigned his position just before current U.S. Attorney Stephanie Rose took over. A statement said that Dummermuth planned to spend time with his family and help on his parents’ farm before taking on his next professional challenge.

Lawrence Donald Kudej is an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Cedar Rapids. He has worked as the chief of the civil division in the district.

On Jan. 24, the state’s Judicial Nominating Commission will begin meeting to interview the applicants. The interviews are open to the public and are expected to last several days, according to the state Supreme Court. The committee will forward nine names to Gov. Chet Culver (D), who will have 30 days to appoint three justices.

Roxanne Conlin (Roxanne Conlin & Associates)

Former Iowa federal prosecutor Roxanne Conlin (D) will have two challengers in the Democratic primary to see who will face off against Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) in the November election.

Friday marked the filing deadline for major party candidates with the Iowa Secretary of State. In addition to Conlin, who served as the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Iowa from 1977 to 1981, the other two Democratic candidates in the June primary are and former state Rep. Bob Krause and former state Sen. Tom Fiegen.

Engineer Sal Mohamed previously announced hiscandidacy for the Democratic nomination but did not file with the Secretary of State’s office.

Grassley is running unopposed in the Republican primary.

UPDATE: A previous version of this article stated that there were two Republicans running for the nomination. The Iowa Secretary of State has since corrected it’s list.

Roxanne Conlin (Roxanne Conlin & Associates)

Former federal prosecutor Roxanne Conlin (D) is seriously behind in her fundraising as she campaigns to unseat Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa): Grassley has at least eight times as much money to wage a campaign as Conlin does.

Conlin, who served as the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Iowa from 1977 to 1981, reported having about $500,000 cash on hand in her 2009 year-end campaign finance report. Grassley, who is seeking a sixth term in the Senate, had more than $4.4 million cash on hand at the end of the third quarter last year. He has not yet filed a year-end report.

The good news for Conlin, who is now a lawyer in private practice, is that she has raised more money than any of the other three declared Democratic candidates.

At the end of the fourth quarter, ex-state Sen. Tom Fiegen had $418.22 cash on hand. Meanwhile, ex-state Rep. Bob Krause, who has yet to file a year end report, had $3,492.51 cash on hand at the end of the third quarter. Engineer Sal Mohamed has yet to file any financial reports.

Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) (gov)

Grassley, who is running unopposed in the primary, has a number of advantages in addition to fundraising. He has wide name recognition and is well-liked in Iowa. Even outside of the state, Grassley, who sits on a number of powerful committees, including Finance, Judiciary and Agriculture, is one of the most visible senators.

The Senate confirmed three Justice Department officials by unanimous consent Saturday night.

They are:

Kenyen Brown (Main Justice file photo)

-Kenyen Brown (Southern District of Alabama): The House Ethics Committee staffer and former Southern District of Alabama Assistant U.S. Attorney was nominated Aug. 6. Brown would succeed Deborah Rhodes, who resigned April 17. Read more about the nominee here.

Stephanie Rose

-Stephanie Rose (Northern District of Iowa): The Northern District of Iowa Assistant U.S. Attorney was nominated Sept. 25. She would succeed Matt Dummermuth, a Bush U.S. Attorney who never won Senate confirmation. Immigration lawyers and immigrant rights advocates have questioned Rose’s role in a controversial round-up of 300 undocumented immigrants working at a meat packing plant in Postville, Iowa, last year. Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) said in May that Rose didn’t take part in the decision to prosecute the immigrant workers. Read more about Rose here.

Nick Klinefeldt (Ahlers & Cooney)

-Nick Klinefeldt (Southern District of Iowa): The Des Moines lawyer was nominated Sept. 25. He would replace Matthew G. Whitaker, who has served as U.S. Attorney since 2004. We previously reported that the lawyer has been able to rise above the past of his father, Michael Arthur Klinefeldt, who is serving a 10-year sentence on a methamphetamine conviction. Read more about Klinefeldt here.

Roxanne Conlin (Roxanne Conlin for Senate)

In a profile today of former federal prosecutor Roxanne Conlin, who is running for the Democratic nomination to challenge Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), the Des Moines Register says she will likely deflect expected attacks about her later career as a plaintiff’s lawyer by saying she has worked to “champion the powerless.”

Conlin’s “biggest payday” was an antitrust case on behalf of Iowa consumers against Microsoft Corp. that settled in 2007, The Register said. Conlin’s law firm split $75 million in fees with a Minnesota law firm, out of $180 million set aside by the software maker to pay Iowa consumers.

Conlin, who served as the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Iowa from 1977 to 1981, is one of four people seeking the Democratic nomination to challenge Grassley.

Said The Register:

In a two-minute Internet video she used to help launch her campaign, Conlin doesn’t use the word lawyer or attorney. She uses the term “prosecutor” to refer to her career before 1982, and then later describes herself as the head of a “small law firm to give a voice to everyday people who had none.”

Conlin’s background as a trial lawyer could hurt her with a segment of voters, The Register reports. However, if she is able to portray herself as an advocate for the people, it could work to her benefit, according campaign experts who spoke to The Register.

Conlin said she has used her private practice to advance the same causes she would work to further if elected, including gender discrimination, sexual harassment and government transparency.

“I have spent my life standing up to the powerful,” Conlin told The Register, adding, “It’s what I do. I don’t have any fear.” The Register reports that Conlin ” has built a reputation as a single-minded litigator with a gambler’s streak, betting on her own skill and her tolerance for long hours of preparation.”

In a video she posted on her campaign Web site, Conlin said, “Taking on the special interests has been the cause of my life,� adding,  “I’m running for U.S. Senate to take this fight to Washington.�

A Democratic former U.S. Attorney filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission to run for Senate in Iowa, the Associated Press reported today.

Roxanne Conlin, who served as the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Iowa from 1977 to 1981, is looking to unseat Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa). But first, she will have to battle former state Sen. Tom Fiegen, former state Rep. Bob Krause and frequent candidate Sal Mohamed for the Democratic nomination.

“Taking on the special interests has been the cause of my life,” she said in a campaign video released today. “I’m running for U.S. Senate to take this fight to Washington.”

Here’s the full video:

The former prosecutor was the Democratic nominee for Iowa governor in 1982. Conlin has been in private practice since 1983. She is a partner at Des Moines law firm Roxanne Conlin & Associates. Read our previous report on her here.

A Democratic former U.S. Attorney will launch a campaign to unseat Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), The Quad-City Times reported today.

Roxanne Conlin (Roxanne Conlin & Associates)

Roxanne Conlin, who served as the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Iowa from 1977 to 1981, will announce her candidacy next week, a senior adviser to the former prosecutor told the newspaper. She will challenge former state Sen. Tom Fiegen, former state Rep. Bob Krause and frequent candidate Sal Mohamed in the 2010 Democratic primary.

The former prosecutor was the Democratic nominee for Iowa governor in 1982. Conlin has been in private practice since 1983. She is a partner at Des Moines law firm Roxanne Conlin & Associates.

“I never thought I’d run again,� Conlin told The Des Moines Register when she was considering a Senate run. She added: “But in my lifetime, I don’t ever want to say, ‘If only I had followed my dream or followed my heart.’�

Roxanne Conlin (Roxanne Conlin & Associates)

Roxanne Conlin (D), who served as the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Iowa from 1977 to 1981, on Thursday said she may run for the Democratic nomination to challenge Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) for his Senate seat next year, The Des Moines Register reported. Conlin has been in private practice since 1983. In 1982 she was the Democratic nominee for Iowa governor. Before serving as a U.S. Attorney, Conlin was an assistant attorney general in Iowa in the civil rights division from 1969 to 1976.

Conlin said her said is considering the run because of disappointment with Grassley and a desire to rejoin the public sector, The Register reported. “I never thought I’d run again,” Conlin told The Register, adding, “But in my lifetime, I don’t ever want to say, ‘If only I had followed my dream or followed my heart.’”

She told The Register, “It’s not the life I expected to have,” adding, “I expected to be in public office. I expected to run the state of Iowa. That is always what I thought would happen. Conlin continued, “So I kind of had to think through: What is my calling now? And so I feel like I’ve been able to make a contribution, not only to the lives of individuals that I represented, but to the people of Iowa in a number of ways.”

Conlin told The Register,”What has changed for me is Grassley.” She cited Grassley’s tone at last summer’s town hall meetings on health care and his criticism of against “Obama-care” in a fundraising brochure. “That’s not the Chuck Grassley I thought this state elected, and it really was a watershed moment for me,” she told The Register.

The candidates who have officially entered the race include three Democrats: former state Sen. Tom Fiegen, former state Rep. Bob Krause and frequent candidate Sal Mohamed.

According to The Register, a Conlin run could bring a fundraising challenge to Grassley, as she is well known and likely would receive significant financial support. In addition, Conlin could finance the campaign herself, as she received a considerable portion of $75 million in legal fees earned as one of the lead lawyers in a 2007 class-action lawsuit against Microsoft.

President Obama nominated former Clinton U.S. Attorney Stephen Rapp to be the State Department’s ambassador at large for war crimes issues, according to a White House news release yesterday.

Stephen Rapp (UCLA)

Rapp was the U.S. Attorney in the Northern District of Iowa from 1993 to 2001 after working as the staff director on the Senate Judiciary juvenile delinquency subcommittee and serving as an  elected member of the Iowa legislature. Following his tenure at the U.S. Attorney’s office, he was the senior trial attorney and chief of prosecutions at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and served as a prosecutor of the Special Court for Sierra Leone, where he led the prosecution of former Liberian President Charles Taylor for war crimes.

The ambassador at large for war crimes issues advises the Secretary of State on U.S. policy for areas  of conflict where atrocities occur.

The vice president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) is crusading against Stephanie Rose’s recommendation to be U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Iowa.

Stephanie Rose

Rose, a  deputy chief of the office’s criminal division, played a central role in a controversial round-up of 300 undocumented immigrants working at a meat packing plant in Postville, Iowa last year, claims AILA’s David Leopold. The male detainees were housed at a fairground used for cattle shows in Waterloo. The National Cattle Congress was also the site of  make-shift court rooms for quickie trials that Leopold said lacked fairness because there weren’t enough lawyers to represent the workers.

In an item posted on AILA’s blog, Leopold wrote:

Rose was among the key assistant U.S. Attorneys who drove the mass prosecutions of nearly 300 undocumented immigrant workers arrested at the Agriprocessors meat packing plant in Postville, Iowa last year. There the government brazenly used the federal identity theft law as a hammer to coerce the workers into pleading guilty to social security fraud, despite questionable evidence, and accepting automatic deportation.

But Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), who recommended Rose to the White House, says Rose didn’t take part in the decision to prosecute the immigrant workers. The raid was conducted during the term of U.S. Attorney Matt Dummermuth, a Bush appointee who never faced Senate confirmation. In an interview with the Iowa Independent, Harkin said:

We looked into this in great detail. We contacted lawyers that were involved on the defense side during the hearings in Waterloo. The lawyers, who provided defense during that event, have come out with a letter in support of Rose’s nomination.

Harkin provided the Independent with a letter signed by 11 defense attorneys for the detained workers. The letter said Rose “was not involved in the major policy decisions that led to the raid. She did not make the decision to fast track these cases, nor did she have any part in how the individuals were to be housed.” The im

But AILA’s Leopold doesn’t buy it.

The argument that Rose “was only following orders� flatly contradicts the testimony of former Senior Associate Deputy Attorney General Deborah Rhodes who told the House Immigration Subcommittee last summer that the Postville prosecutions were planned by the local federal authorities. 

The Supreme Court ruled last week that prosecutors couldn’t convict immigrants of identify theft if they couldn’t prove the immigrants knew their false papers contained information stolen from an actual person.