In December the Iowa Court of Appeals ruled that the Harrison County Board of Supervisors violated the Iowa Open Meetings law.
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Iowa Supreme Court 2016-17 preview: Does confidentiality in a ‘morbidity and mortality’ report apply to a dislocated shoulder?
Dennis Willard was admitted to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics for treatment of injuries suffered in a motorcycle accident. Among his injuries was a dislocated shoulder, but Willard alleges that was inflicted by hospital staff while he was sedated. Now he is asking the Iowa Supreme …
Iowa Supreme Court: The Constitution does not require special treatment for juveniles on restitution orders
The Iowa Supreme Court has declined to add another criminal-sentencing exception for juvenile offenders in a pair of rulings regarding Iowa’s mandatory $150,000 restitution in murder cases.
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled in a series of cases over the la …
Iowa Supreme Court oral argument recap: Justices see a problem with jury selection, but no easy solution
It’s not often a lawyer can predict the outcome of a case based on an appellate court oral argument. But more than one Iowa Supreme Court justice readily acknowledged Tuesday that Des Moines attorney Gary Dickey exposed a constitutional problem with Iowa’s process for selecting jurie …
Iowa Supreme Court oral argument recap: Should courts keep a lid on the box?
Lawyers arguing a case before the Iowa Supreme Court Tuesday presented sharply contrasting views of justice: One view is that denying an innocent defendant the right to appeal is a miscarriage of justice; the other view is that the interest of justice in finality is not served by opening the do …
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Iowa Supreme Court says insurance liability must be shared in a tragic shooting death
A couple of teenage boys are out for some dirt-bike and ATV riding at rural retreat when one of the boys is fatally injured in a tragic shooting accident. The farmhouse on the retreat where the shooting occurred is insured by a homeowners’ policy and by a separate commercial general liability …
The Iowa Supreme Court grapples with alleged jury confusion with instructions in a comparative fault case, but declines to order a new trial
Jurors in a Pottawattamie County medical malpractice trial submitted a question to the court during jury deliberations about the meaning of instructions given to them by the trial judge for apportioning fault to a settled party, but the judge did not commit a prejudicial error by failing to cla …
Iowa Supreme Court will hear arguments in eight cases March 5 and 6
The Iowa Supreme Court entered the home stretch of its 2018-19 term March 1, with four months remaining before the administrative term begins in July.
The Court has disposed of 38 of the 90 cases submitted thus far this term. The Court has scheduled five …
Christopher McDonald elevated to the Iowa Supreme Court by Governor Reynolds
The Iowa Supreme Court will have a full complement of seven justices when Christopher McDonald is sworn in. McDonald, 44, was appointed by Gov. Kim Reynolds this week, replacing Justice Daryl Hecht, who retired last year as he battles melanoma.
Reynolds†…
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On Brief: Iowa’s Appellate Blog is devoted to appellate litigation with a focus on the Iowa Supreme Court, the Iowa Court of Appeals, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.