Iowa Supreme Court Preview: Justices will hear arguments in 10 cases this week
The Iowa Supreme Court will hear arguments in 10 cases Jan. 17 and 18 that raise an array of issues ranging from whether a father must pay his daughter’s sorority dues to a question of a county’s liability for a traffic accident. Two other cases will be submitted to the Court without oral a …
read moreSearch ends at personal belongings in a targeted-warrant case, the Iowa Supreme Court rules
Danielle Brown was one of five people in the bedroom of a house when a Des Moines police SWAT team swarmed in to execute a warrant naming a male occupant of the house to be searched for drugs and weapons. Brown was not named in the warrant but police searched her purse and found a small amount …
read moreQuestion to Iowa Supreme Court: Who are the legal parents of a child born of a surrogate mother?
A case before the Iowa Supreme Court this term poses profound questions of law, biology, genetics and human rights:
Who are the legal parents of a child produced from donated genetic material and born of a surrogate mother?
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Eighth Circuit upholds Sorenson prison sentence for lying about taking money for political endorsements
Former Iowa State Sen. Kent Sorenson’s 15-month sentence in federal prison for lying about taking payments for political endorsements was upheld by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit in St. Louis Tuesday.
Federal prosecutors had recommended …
read moreIowa Supreme Court set to hear arguments in four cases next week
The Iowa Supreme Court will hear arguments in four cases on Tuesday and Wednesday, Dec. 12 and 13, in appeals that ask the Court to settle a dispute over a baby born of a surrogate mother, an asbestos liability suit brought by the estate of a lung-cancer victim, and a question of whether the St …
read moreIowa Supreme Court: Trial judge erred on removing a biased juror, but the verdict stands
Taxing one stepchild but not another does not violate equal protection, Iowa Supreme Court rules
Iowa tax law does not run afoul of the equal protection clause of the Iowa Constitution in treating certain stepchildren differently than others for inheritance-tax purposes, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled in read more
Oral argument recap: Justices hear the case for and against prosecuting a child as an adult
Justices of the Iowa Supreme Court grappled in an oral argument Tuesday with the question of prosecuting a 13-year-old as an adult under Iowa’s youthful offender statute.
Noah Crooks, who was convicted of killing his mother when he was 13, was waived by a …
read moreIowa Supreme Court urged to ban criminal prosecution of 13-year-olds in adult court
The Iowa Supreme Court is being asked to take another step toward protecting juvenile offenders from prison sentences designed for adults in an appeal set for argument Tuesday.
In read more
Iowa Supreme Court asked: Is it possible to say the road not taken would have led to better place?
A southeast Iowa woman is asking the Iowa Supreme Court to overturn its 2010 decision that she says imposes an impossible burden on workers’ compensation claimants: proving that the outcome of the medical procedure they chose is better than a hypothetical alternative.
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FEATURED POSTS
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.
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 …
Iowa 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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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.