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 …
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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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Appeal filed in federal constitutional challenge to Iowa gender-balance law for State Judicial Nominating Commission
Two Iowans who are seeking to enjoin enforcement of an Iowa statute requiring gender balance on the State Judicial Nominating Commission are taking their challenge to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.
Rachel Raak Law of Correctionville and Micah Broekemeier of Iowa City read more
Iowa Supreme Court reaffirms its precedent on reciting rights to drunk driving suspects
How far must a police officer go to assure that a suspected drunk driver understands the legal consequences of agreeing or refusing to take a breath test when the suspect does not speak English?
That is the question posed in an appeal to the Iowa Supreme Court by Fethe Feshay Baraki, who claims he did not knowingly conse …
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Divided Iowa Supreme Court affirms trial court on license plate obscured by trailer hitch ball
A Polk County District judge denied a defendant’s motion to suppress evidence from a traffic stop initiated by a police officer who could not make out one letter on the vehicle’s license plate because it was partially blocked by a trailer hitch ball.
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Iowa Supreme Court to hear arguments in nine cases Nov. 16 and 17
The Iowa Supreme Court will hear arguments in nine cases Nov. 16 and 17. Three other cases will be submitted to the Court without oral argument. Following are short summaries of the November cases. Go to On Brief’s Cases in the Pipeline page to read the briefs in these case …
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Iowa Supreme Court leaves rules in place for appealing guilty pleas
When a criminal defendant pleads guilty to a crime, it produces the same result as a criminal conviction at trial. So courts have created procedural requirements designed to ensure that any plea is legally and constitutionally valid before it is accepted.
One requirement is that there must be a factual basis for the crim …
read moreA statistical review of the 2021-2022 Iowa Supreme Court term: while polarization recedes, disagreement persists
[This article by Matthew A. McGuire and Spencer S. Cady was originally published in the August 2022 issue of The Iowa Lawyer magazine. The 2021-2022 term statistics were compiled by Chris Slack.]
The 2021-2022 term of the Iowa Supreme Court concluded o …
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Iowa Supreme Court Does Not Reverse District Court Determination That The Supreme Court’s COVID-19 Orders Tolling Statutes Of Limitations Violated The Iowa Constitution
The Iowa Supreme Court is responsible for supervising and regulating trial and appellate courts across the state. As the COVID-19 pandemic descended upon the state in early 2020, the Supreme Court was forced to issue emergency orders to protect the public and court staff while keeping the state’s court system functioning. …
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Iowa Supreme Court to hear arguments in one case in Denison Oct. 25
The Iowa Supreme Court will go on the road to Denison Oct. 25 to hear oral arguments in an appeal by the State in a case involving a defendant who successfully argued in District Court that the State’s breath test evidence in a drunk-driving prosecution is inadmissible because he does not speak English and did not underst …
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State universities must pay health care association assessments, Iowa Supreme Court holds
The Iowa Legislature in 1995 enacted health care insurance reforms aimed at improving individual access to health insurance. Among other things, the legislation created the Iowa Individual Health Benefit Reinsurance Association, a private nonprofit corporation.
Individual health insurance providers are required by the st …
Iowa Supreme Court clarifies statutory “certificate of merit” requirements for medical malpractice suits
Iowa law requires that a party bringing a malpractice action against a health care provider provide defendants with an expert witness affidavit regarding the alleged breach of the applicable medical standard of care, referred to as a “certificate of merit”. In three decisions handed down Dec. 22, the Iowa Supreme Court …
Indiana doctor can be sued over contract dispute in Iowa, Iowa Supreme Court holds
In 2021 Des Moines lawyer Marc Harding was considering bringing a medical malpractice action in Iowa and sent records related to the case to an Indiana surgeon to review. Harding ultimately decided against bringing the malpractice suit but instead sued the Indiana doctor over a consulting-fee dispute.
That dispute led to …
November 2023 Opinion Roundup
The Iowa Supreme Court entered opinions in six cases during November 2023. You can read Rox Laird’s summary State v. Amisi at the link here. The remaining opinions from November 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.