Three Ousted Iowa Judges Receive Courage Award

BOSTON (AP) — President John F. Kennedy's only surviving child celebrated what would have been his 95th birthday this month by honoring three Iowa judges who were ousted after the court unanimously decided to legalize same-sex marriages.

Kennedy heads the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation, which promotes the late president's memory and legacy. She presented the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award on Monday to former Iowa Chief Justice Marsha Ternus and justices David Baker and Michael Streit, all of whom were pushed off the bench in a 2010 retention vote.

The three judges received a sterling silver ship's lantern symbolizing a beacon of hope. The award, designed by Caroline Kennedy's husband, Edwin Schlossberg, and crafted by Tiffany & Co., resembles one belonging to the U.S. Navy's oldest commissioned warship, the USS Constitution.

"The three judges are interesting and courageous on many levels," Kennedy told The Associated Press. "... Like many of the people who get this award, they don't consider that they are doing anything particularly courageous, they just feel they're doing what's right, they're doing their job."