Eight oral arguments on tap for the Iowa Supreme Court this week
The Iowa Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in eight cases Wednesday and Thursday, and six cases will be submitted to the Court without oral argument. Following are brief summaries of the cases.
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read moreQuestion to be argued before the Iowa Supreme Court: Games of skill or chance?
The Iowa Supreme Court will hear arguments Friday in Iowa City in a case that could determine whether gaming devices that resemble slot machines could be placed in Iowa businesses other than bars.
The Court will hear oral arguments at 10:30 a.m. Friday in < …
read moreEighth Circuit rules ‘In God We Trust’ on U.S. currency is constitutional
The motto “In God We Trust” has been printed on U.S. currency since the Civil War, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit confronted the question of whether it violates the Constitution for the first time in an Aug. 28 read more
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Gorsuch shares his views on preserving the rule of law at Des Moines conference
Neil Gorsuch, associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, made a case for defending the rule of law in a conversation a Q-and-A-format conversation with Lavenski Smith, Chief Judge of the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, at the Eighth Circuit conference in Des Moines Friday.
District Judge Susan Christensen named to the Iowa Supreme Court
Susan Christensen told her husband some years ago that she wanted to be a judge, and she reached that goal when she became a District Associate Judge in 2007 and a District Judge in 2015. But her climb up the judiciary ladder did not end there: On Wednesday, Christensen was appointed as an Asso …
read moreIowa native tapped for vacancy on the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals
A Sioux City native has been nominated to fill a vacancy on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit to replace Judge Roger Wollman, who has announced he will take senior status.
Jonathan Kobes, now serving as general counsel to U.S. Sen. Mike Round …
read moreEighth Circuit Court of Appeals issues a split decision on the legality of Des Moines’ utility fee
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit in St. Louis handed down a read more
Iowa Supreme Court, citing the Iowa Constitution, limits warrantless searches of containers in impounded vehicles
The Iowa Supreme Court added another category of police searches where it invoked the Iowa Constitution to extend broader protection than the U.S. Supreme Court has granted under the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
For drivers whose vehicles ar …
read moreDivided Iowa Supreme Court keeps county attorney on the job, despite sexual harassment complaints
Van Buren County Attorney Abraham Watkins was removed from office by a District Court judge who ruled that Watkins “engaged in misconduct or maladministration by regularly committing sexual harassment” of female employees.
The court record reciting Watk …
read moreFelony-murder rule can be applied to juveniles, Iowa Supreme Court rules
The Iowa Supreme Court ruled that the felony-murder rule may be applied to juvenile offenders in a decision upholding the sentence of life in prison with the possibility of parole for a defendant who was 16 at the time of the crime.
Keyon Harrison was found guilty by a Polk County jury of first-degree murder for his role …
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Three Des Moines police officers denied immunity by U.S. Court of Appeals in traffic stop case
Three Des Moines police officers who violated the constitutional rights of a Des Moines man by making a traffic stop without reasonable suspicion of a crime are not entitled to qualified immunity from personal liability, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
May a city legally ban the possession of a certain breed of dog – such as so-called pit bulls – on the rationale that the breed is responsible for more injuries than other dog breeds? That question will be ar … The Iowa Supreme Court will hear arguments in 12 cases Sept. 14 and 15. Five other appeals will be submitted to the Court without oral argument. Go to On Brief’s Cases in the Pipeline page to read the briefs filed with the court in these cases. Stat … Rosemary Shaw Sackett, former Chief Judge of the Iowa Court of Appeals, died Sept. 2 in Okoboji. A graveside service is scheduled for Sept. 24 in Spirit Lake. Sackett was appointed to the Iowa Court of Appeals by Gov. …Federal court to hear appeal on Council Bluffs’ pit-bull dog ban
Iowa Supreme Court to hear arguments in 12 cases Sept.14 and 15
Funeral service set for Rosemary Shaw Sackett, former Chief Judge of the Iowa Court of Appeals
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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.