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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Is an employee covered by a collective-bargaining agreement entitled to an exception to the ‘at-will’ employment doctrine?
Iowa Supreme Court upholds a will to resolve a legal dispute over a family farm
In the words of her attorney, Margaret Workman was “obsessed” with estate planning regarding the fate of the family’s 200-acre farm, creating and amending wills no fewer than 10 times.
Margaret, who died at the age of 89 in 2012, may rest in peace: He …
read moreIowa Supreme Court restores sentence reduction in a ruling affecting 150 inmates
The Iowa Supreme Court in its first decision of the term handed down Oct. 13 agreed with a convicted sex offender that his prison sentence was wrongly extended by more than three years by the Iowa Department of Corrections (IDOC).
The IDOC’s recent poli …
read moreIowa Supreme Court to hear arguments on the right to a jury and to a language interpreter in Davenport today
The Iowa Supreme Court will hear arguments in a drug-conviction appeal at the Davenport Central High School Performing Arts Center this evening. This will be the court’s third session outside the Judicial Branch Building this term, which is part of the court’s continuing effort to make the …
read moreOne down, two to go: Senate Confirms Erickson to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals
The Senate on September 28, 2017, confirmed U.S. District Judge Ralph Erickson to replace Kermit Bye of North Dakota, filling one of three vacancies on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eight Circuit.
Omaha lawyer Steven Grasz seems likely to sail through the Senate to replace former Chief Judge William Jay Riley.
Minneso …
read moreTrump Administration has three vacancies to fill on the Eighth Circuit
This article was original published in the Summer 2017 edition of the Bar Association of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit Newsletter, and is reprinted here with permission.
President Donald Trump is positioned to shape the federal circuit courts wit …
read moreIs sexual harassment grounds for removing an elected official from office?
Abraham Watkins was elected Van Buren County Attorney and took office on Jan. 1, 2015. Two years and two days later, a Van Buren County judge ruled that Watkins was guilty of maladministration of office for sexual harassment of a county employee and ordered him removed from office.
A question in traffic-camera appeals: Do you have a constitutional right to break the speed limit in Iowa?
A legal dispute over a $75 traffic citation could have implications for thousands of drivers who receive speeding tickets in the mail based on evidence captured by an automated traffic-enforcement camera.
A number of lawsuits have been working their way thr …
read moreStatistical Review of the Iowa Supreme Court’s 2016-17 Term: Hints at what to expect this term
To get an idea of what to expect in the Iowa Supreme Court’s new term that begins this week, it’s worth reviewing some statistics from the 2016-17 term. Based on past performance, the justices will be like-minded on most cases, they will cleave into two camps when they sharply disagree, and …
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Court of Appeals Judge David May elevated to Iowa Supreme Court by Governor Reynolds
Judge David May, who describes himself as a “regular person” who received “extraordinary blessings,” has risen to the pin
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Iowa Supreme Court upholds first-degree murder conviction after fourth trial
Stanley Liggins was convicted of first-degree murder from events which occurred in 1990. Liggins was charged with the murder of a nine-year-old child. Liggins’s initial conviction was overturned on appeal in 1994 due to the admission of irrelevant, prejudicial evidence at trial. Liggins was ag
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Iowa Supreme Court denies State’s bid for rehearing on standard of review for abortion regulations
On July 1 the State of Iowa filed a petition urging the Iowa Supreme Court to rehear its June 17 ruling on abortion in Planned Parenthood of the Heartland v. Reynolds. (Read our previous post on the Court’s prior ruling
Divided Iowa Supreme Court strikes down precedent on animal confinements
The Iowa Supreme Court in a 4-3 ruling handed down June 30 overturned a 2004 decision that created a path for challenging Iowa’s law protecting animal confinement operators from nuisance suits as a violation of the inalienable rights clause of the Iowa Constitution.
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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.