by Rox Laird | May 18, 2020
Legal challenges to the Iowa Legislature’s 2019 changes in the nominating process for Iowa appellate judges have reached the end of the road. The Iowa Supreme Court on May 15 denied applications for further review of two Iowa Court of Appeals rulings dismissing the...
by Rox Laird | May 14, 2020
When prosecutors dismissed a marijuana possession charge against Lori Mathes in Monona County, she thought that was the end of her ordeal, with the exception of what she understood to be a $500 bill for court costs. Instead, the court’s dismissal order included nearly...
by Rox Laird | May 6, 2020
Drake University did not violate the rights of a former Drake trustee removed from the board after he waged an aggressive campaign in defense of his son, a Drake student accused of sexual misconduct, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit ruled May 4. The...
by Rox Laird | May 1, 2020
The Iowa Supreme Court has granted further review of four rulings of the Iowa Court of Appeals. Following are brief summaries of those cases. Go to On Brief’s Cases in the Pipeline page to read the parties’ briefs and appellants’ applications for further review....
by Rox Laird | April 22, 2020
Iowa law requires that criminal defendants who invoke a “stand your ground” defense must have informed law-enforcement authorities of the use of deadly force. That requirement, on its face, may or may not violate a defendant’s constitutional rights, but a defendant’s...
