Martha Martinez was brought to the United States in 1997, when she was 11 years old and has lived in Muscatine as an undocumented immigrant ever since. So when President Barack Obama established the “Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals” by executive order in 2012, Martinez saw an opportu …
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Iowa Supreme Court 2016-17 Preview: Appeal in 12-year-old murder case arrives at the Iowa Supreme Court Wednesday
Arguments in a long-running legal battle over a Des Moines murder case that has been in the news will be heard by the Iowa Supreme Court Wednesday. The outcome could determine whether an accused accomplice will go to prison for life.
Ankeny businessman Ve …
Court adds another case to juvenile sentencing lineup
A fourth case has been added to the Iowa Supreme Court’s October calendar on the question of how the Iowa Department of Corrections should calculate early discharge dates for offenders convicted as juveniles.
The court on Oct. 20 is scheduled to
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Most Iowa lawyers back retention of all 66 judges on the Nov. 8 ballot
Voting begins officially today when Iowans can begin casting absentee ballots at county auditor offices.
That will be the first time many voters will see the complete General Election ballot – including the names of 66 Iowa appeals court and trial court j …
Iowa Supreme Court 2016-17 Preview: What a difference 15 eighty-fifths can make in your day
Iowa Supreme Court justices and courtroom observers may need calculators to follow an oral argument next month in a case that involves how quickly prison inmates earn the right to early discharge from their sentences.
Two Iowa women convicted as juveniles …
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Iowa Supreme Court applies ‘plain feel’ exception to uphold Fourth Amendment warrantless search
Appellate courts have over the past half century given police officers more latitude to make warrantless searches during traffic stops using two of the five senses – sight and touch – to assess whether a suspicious item discovered in a pat-down search is evidence of a crime.
The sense of touch was at issue in a decis …
Des Moines police officers denied immunity for holding crime witnesses, Eighth Circuit rules
Federal courts recently have begun to reexamine the common law doctrine of “qualified immunity” that protects public officials from individual liability where there is no clearly established constitutional or statutory right at stake.
This reconsideration has been prompted in large part by critics of granting qualifi …
Eighth Circuit Vacates Injunction Against Iowa’s Mask Mandate Ban On Mootness Grounds
On Monday, May 16, a panel of judges from the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit vacated an Iowa federal district judge’s injunction barring enforcement of Iowa’s ban of mask mandates in schools. In doing so, the Court of Appeals overturned its prior ruling from January, which affirmed the injunction …
Railroad’s share of drainage district repairs based on benefit, not cost, Iowa Supreme Court rules
A railroad whose tracks cross an agricultural drainage district should be assessed its share of the cost of repairing deteriorated drainage tile based on the railroad’s benefit from the repairs, not the added cost of complying with federal railroad regulations, the Iowa Supreme Court said in a ruling handed down May 6.
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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.