Juvenile sentencing ruling exposes deep fissure on Iowa Supreme Court
Deer quarantine law doesn’t extend to hunting preserves, Iowa Supreme Court rules
The Iowa Department of Natural Resources went too far when it quarantined a 330-acre hunting preserve to prevent the spread of a deer disease, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled Friday. But the Court held that the quarantine did not amount to a government “taking” of the owners’ property under …
read moreIowa Supreme Court opens the courthouse doors to ‘wrongful birth’ lawsuits
Pamela and Jeremy Plowmans’ appeal to the Iowa Supreme Court presented hard questions about the rights of parents to be informed about abnormalities of an unborn child that may lead them to choose an abortion.
The Court, carefully picking through this mor …
read more2016-17 Iowa Supreme Court status report: 96 down; 21 to go
Tomorrow the Iowa Supreme Court is expected to hand down two decisions, which will bring to 96 the number of cases disposed of in the first nine months of the 2016-17 term.
After the release of tomorrow’s decisions, 21 submitted cases will remain to be …
read moreIowa Supreme Court draws a line in two juvenile sentencing cases
When the Iowa Supreme Court began applying the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent juvenile sentencing decisions to Iowa cases, criminal offenders convicted as juveniles saw an opportunity to raise increasingly novel arguments.
Although the Court has agreed with …
read moreIowa Supreme Court reverses itself in speedy indictment cases
A divided Iowa Supreme Court Thursday reversed its 37-year-old precedent on when an “arrest” occurs for purposes of the state’s speedy indictment rule.
In the case before the Court, read more
U.S. Supreme Court denies DeCosters’ prison sentence appeals
Two executives of an Iowa-based egg production company apparently will serve time in federal prison for their part in the 2010 salmonella outbreak that resulted in nearly 2,000 reported illnesses and the recall of a half-million eggs.
The U.S. Supreme Court …
read moreFederal appeals court upholds dismissal of lawsuit in fatal shooting by Iowa deputy sheriff
A federal appeals court Monday upheld the summary-judgment dismissal of an Iowa family’s civil lawsuit following the shooting death of Robert Michael Dooley by a Van Buren County sheriff’s deputy.
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Sidewalk evangelist loses again before federal Court of Appeals
A Christian evangelist who wants to take his religious message to the Iowa State Fair has again been rebuffed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.
The federal appeals court based in St. Louis, which has jurisdiction in seven Midwest states i …
read moreEighth Circuit Court of Appeals rules twice in one week upholding Arkansas death penalty process
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit issued two rulings this week, clearing the way for Arkansas to carry out its plan to execute eight convicted murderers. That is assuming there are no more emergency appeals to state and federal courts.
Late T …
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State delays in considering prison inmates for parole must meet constitutional standard, Iowa Supreme Court rules
Convicted offenders serving indeterminate prison sentences in Iowa do not have a constitutional right to parole, the Iowa Supreme Court has held in the past. But in a decision handed down Nov. 23, Bomgaars, et al., v. State, the Cou …
Appeals court rejects Hearst’s bid for reconsideration of defamation ruling involving Iowa dairy farm
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit Tuesday denied the publisher of Esquire magazine’s request for rehearing of its Sept. 15 panel ruling reversing in part a district court decision dismissing California Congressman Devin Nunes’ defamation suit against the company.
Hearst Magazines Inc., the pub …
Iowa Supreme Court to hear arguments in seven appeals Tuesday and Wednesday
The Iowa Supreme Court will hear arguments in seven cases Nov. 16 and 17, and seven other cases will be submitted to the court without oral arguments.
Following are brief summaries of the November cases. Go to On Brief’s “Cases in the Pipeline” page to read briefs su …
Esquire magazine seeks new hearing on Eighth Circuit defamation ruling involving Iowa dairy farm
The publisher of Esquire magazine is asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit to reconsider its Sept. 15 panel ruling that the magazine published potentially defamatory statements about California Congressman Devin Nunes and his family’s dairy farm in Iowa.
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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.