The state is mourning the passing of Iowa Supreme Court Chief Justice Mark Cady, who died Friday in Des Moines of a heart attack at the age of 66.
The Iowa Judicial Branch released a statement saying Cady’s “passing is a great loss to the court and the state he so loyally served.”
Cady, of Ft. Dodge, was appointed to the Iowa Supreme Court in 1998 and named chief justice in 2011.
He was key in decisions that rankled social conservatives.
Cady wrote the 2009 unanimous opinion that made Iowa the third state to permit same-sex marriages and he wrote last year’s decision upholding a woman’s right to an abortion under the Iowa Constitution.
A celebration of Cady’s life will take place Wednesday at 10am in the Knapp Center on the campus of Drake University.
