The Iowa Department of Natural Resources went too far when it quarantined a 330-acre hunting preserve to prevent the spread of a deer disease, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled Friday. But the Court held that the quarantine did not amount to a government “taking” of the owners’ property under …
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Iowa Supreme Court opens the courthouse doors to ‘wrongful birth’ lawsuits
Pamela and Jeremy Plowmans’ appeal to the Iowa Supreme Court presented hard questions about the rights of parents to be informed about abnormalities of an unborn child that may lead them to choose an abortion.
The Court, carefully picking through this mor …
2016-17 Iowa Supreme Court status report: 96 down; 21 to go
Tomorrow the Iowa Supreme Court is expected to hand down two decisions, which will bring to 96 the number of cases disposed of in the first nine months of the 2016-17 term.
After the release of tomorrow’s decisions, 21 submitted cases will remain to be …
Iowa Supreme Court draws a line in two juvenile sentencing cases
When the Iowa Supreme Court began applying the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent juvenile sentencing decisions to Iowa cases, criminal offenders convicted as juveniles saw an opportunity to raise increasingly novel arguments.
Although the Court has agreed with …
Iowa Supreme Court reverses itself in speedy indictment cases
A divided Iowa Supreme Court Thursday reversed its 37-year-old precedent on when an “arrest” occurs for purposes of the state’s speedy indictment rule.
In the case before the Court, read more
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Appeal for injunction dropped in constitutional challenge to gender-balance rule for State Judicial Nominating Commission
The plaintiffs in a case before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit regarding the constitutionality of Iowa’s gender balance requirement for the State Judicial Nominating Commission have agreed to dismiss their appeal of an Iowa district court’s denial of their request for a temporary injunction.
The cas …
Plaintiff seeking confidential government documents in public-records suit must first show they may be released to the public, Iowa Supreme Court holds
A plaintiff may not have access to confidential government records through discovery in a suit brought under the Iowa Public Records Act unless the trial court first rules the records are subject to public disclosure, the Iowa Supreme Court held in a decision handed down Dec. 16.
Michelle Vaccaro sued Polk County and Pol …
Iowa Supreme Court: All voters count where referendum petitions are concerned
On Election Day, voters may skip some races on the ballot while voting in others. “Undervoting” ordinarily is not an issue, but it presents one for purposes of Iowa’s statute that calculates the number of signatures needed on a petition calling for a public referendum based on the “number of voters.”
The meanin …
Iowa Supreme Court to hear arguments in seven cases Dec. 14 and 15
The Iowa Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments in seven cases Dec. 14 and 15. Five other cases will be submitted to the court this week without oral argument. Go to On Brief’s “Cases in the Pipeline” page to read briefs in these cases.
Following are summa …
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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.