Question before Iowa Supreme Court: Was a defendant free to drive off from a police encounter?
The Iowa Supreme Court will hear an oral argument at the University of Iowa in a case that poses a question with an often-elusive answer under the Fourth Amendment: When does a reasonable person feel free to walk or drive away from a police encounter?
The oral argument in this case is set for 1:30 p.m. Sept. 29 at the Un …
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Federal appeals court to hear arguments Sept. 20 on Iowa law barring undercover access to livestock facilities
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit will hear oral arguments in St. Louis Sept. 20 in two appeals brought by the State of Iowa defending statutes that make it illegal to trespass or to lie on a job application to gain entry with the intent of using cameras or electronic surveillance to publicly expose animal cr …
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Iowa Supreme Court to hear a case in Waverly involving a search prompted by a drug-detection dog
Did a law-enforcement officer step across a constitutional line when he touched the cab of a semi-tractor, seeming to direct a drug-detection dog where to sniff for the presence of potentially illegal drugs?
That is the question before the Iowa Supreme Court that will be argued Sept. 19 at Waverly-Shell Rock High School. …
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Iowa Supreme Court to hear arguments in six cases Sept. 13-14
Iowa Supreme Court’s 2023-24 term begins with oral arguments Sep. 13-14
The Iowa Supreme Court is set to begin its 2023-24 term with oral arguments Sept. 13 and 14 in Des Moines. The justices will travel to the Waverly-Shellrock High School for an evening oral argument on Sept. 19 and to the University of Iowa Law School on Sept. 29. The Court will also go on the road in October, February, and …
read moreA statistical review of the 2022-2023 Iowa Supreme Court term
[This article by Matthew A. McGuire, Spencer S. Cady, and Chris E. Slack was originally published in the August 2023 issue of The Iowa Lawyer magazine.]
In our analysis of the 2020- …
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U.S. Supreme Court on California’s Proposition 12: Banning imports of pork from ‘cruel’ treatment not unconstitutional – at least for now
Most every state was affected one way or another by decisions handed down by the U.S. Supreme Court in its recently ended term. A decision upholding California’s restriction on the sale of certain pork products in the state of California, however, may have an outsize impact on Iowa, which is the No. 1 pork producer and ex …
read moreIowa Supreme Court rules that Iowa Utilities Board must consider alternatives to a public utility’s plan for managing emissions
In an opinion filed on April 28, 2023, the Iowa Supreme Court in Environmental Law and Policy Center v. Iowa Utilities Board ruled under Iowa Code section 476.6 the Iowa Utilities Board erred in not considering certain intervenors’ evidence when approving MidAmerican Energy’s required biennial plan and budget f …
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Work of Iowa Supreme Court continues during summer break between terms
Since the Iowa Supreme Court ended its 2022-23 term June 30 with release of all remaining decisions, the justices have been spending the summer months on court administration matters that could affect the practice of law and operation of Iowa courts for years to come.
Among the items on the Court’s administrative term …
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Iowa Supreme Court seeks public comment on proposed rules governing remote court proceedings
During the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Iowa Supreme Court created temporary rules for conducting remote trial and appellate proceedings when in-person hearings and trials were not considered safe.
Although Covid concerns have receded, Iowa judges, lawyers, and court administrators have recognized the need to con …
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Iowa Constitution mandates face-to-face confrontation by witness, Iowa Supreme Court rules
A defendant’s right under the Iowa Constitution to confront witnesses at trial is not satisfied by one-way video testimony where the witness testifying on camera is not able to see the defendant, the Iowa Supreme Court held in a 4-3 ruling handed down June 28. In reaching that conclusion, the Court declined to follow a U.S. Supreme Court precedent and overruled one of its own prior rulings.
Iowa Court of Appeals April 2024 Published Opinion Roundup
The Iowa Court of Appeals selects certain opinions for publication in the Northwestern Reporter. On April 11, 2024, the Court of Appeals selected three opinions for publication, summarized below.
Closely divided Iowa Supreme Court finds challenges to abortion restrictions under Iowa constitution subject to rational-basis review, reverses injunction against “fetal heartbeat” law
In a 4-3 decision, the Iowa Supreme Court held that rational basis review is the applicable standard in addressing challenges to abortion restrictions under the Iowa constitution.
April 2024 Opinion Roundup
The Iowa Supreme Court entered opinions in nine cases during April 2024. Opinions from April not covered elsewhere on the blog are summarized below.
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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.