

Was a real estate agent liable when a prospective buyer fell on an icy driveway? The Iowa Supreme Court says no
Iowa Supreme Court declines to extend juvenile sentencing protections to young adults in two cases
James Dorsey broke into a home before shooting and killing an unarmed woman just five days after he turned eighteen in 1984. Dorsey was convicted of first-degree murder and he received the mandatory sentence for first-degree murder – life in prison without the possibility of parole. The case before the Iowa Supreme Court …
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911 dispatcher with PTSD is eligible for workers’ compensation benefits, Iowa Supreme Court holds
An emergency dispatcher traumatized by a distraught mother screaming for two minutes “Help me, my baby is dead” is eligible for workers’ compensation benefits even though the job comes with distressing calls, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled June 3.
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Corporate Shareholders Suing Directors Face Heightened Pleading Requirement, Iowa Supreme Court Holds
In 2019, the publicly traded stock of EMC Insurance Group, Inc. (“EMCI”) was acquired in a “going private transaction.” Certain shareholders sued members of EMCI’s board of directors for breaching fiduciary duties owed to public shareholders. Those individual directors moved to dismiss the plaintiffs’ claims, an …
read moreIowa Supreme Court will mark Justice Appel’s retirement at June 2 ceremony
Iowa Supreme Court Justice Brent Appel will retire from the Court effective June 13 after serving on the Court for 16 years. Appel, who turns 72 this year, reached the ma …

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 …
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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 …
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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 …
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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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Lay Landowner Cannot Testify About Specific Comparable Sales to Support the Valuation of His Land Without Expert Testimony, Iowa Supreme Court Rules
Iowa has long recognized what is know as “the property owner rule,” which permits a landowner to testify as a non-expert in condemnation cases about the landowner’s opinion of the value of its own property. Iowa has also long recognized that property values can be supported by the prices paid in comparable land sales. …
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January 2024 Opinion Roundup
The Iowa Supreme Court entered opinions in six cases during January 2024. You can read Rox Laird’s analysis of In re Detention of Schuman and Chicoine v. Wellmark, Inc., in separate posts. The remaining opinions from January are summarized below.
Iowa Constitution can protect legislators from subpoenas, Iowa Supreme Court holds
Iowa legislators are shielded by the Iowa Constitution from being forced to produce communications with third parties in a civil proceeding related to the passage of legislation, the Iowa Supreme Court held for the first time in a decision h …
Iowa Court of Appeals February 2024 Published Opinion Roundup
The Iowa Court of Appeals selects certain opinions for publication within the North Western Reporter. On February 9, 2024, the Court of Appeals selected three opinions for publication, summarized below…
Deputy’s misstatements in warrant application were not intentionally false, Iowa Supreme Court rules
A divided Iowa Supreme Court held that evidence procured via a warrant should not have been suppressed by a trial judge because any false statements by a deputy sheriff in support of the warrant were not intentionally made with reckless disregard for the truth.
Jesse Harbach was charged with driving while intoxicated aft …
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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.