DES MOINES, Iowa — The new Iowa Workforce Development director has fired an administrative law judge who alleged Gov. Terry Branstad’s administration undermined judicial independence in the agency that decides whether unemployed workers get jobless benefits. Susan Ackerman, an unemployment benefits appeals judge for 14 years, was fired Jan. 30 by then-acting IWD Director Beth Townsend, according to court documents filed earlier this week in district court in Des Moines. Ackerman contends in the documents …