Iowa Supreme Court preview: Can you claim ‘actual innocence’ after pleading guilty to a crime?
If you plead guilty to a criminal charge can you later claim you are in fact innocent after your accuser recants his testimony?
That question will be before the Iowa Supreme Court in Schmidt v. Iowa this term.
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Cities may have dodged a procedural nightmare in Iowa Supreme Court’s ‘Field of Dreams’ ruling
Last week’s Iowa Supreme Court ruling upholding a Dyersville rezoning decision may have gotten the attention of movie fans and baseball nostalgia buffs who remember the 1989 movie “Field of Dreams” filmed on location near the Dubuque County town.
But …
read moreEighth Circuit to hear arguments Wednesday on ISU trademark use by advocates of legalizing marijuana
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit will hear oral arguments Wednesday in St. Paul, Minn., in a trademark dispute between Iowa State University and the campus chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML).
ISU ar …
read moreIowa Supreme Court cites state records law in sealing court records
The Iowa Supreme Court Friday said a Linn County District judge failed to correctly follow the Iowa open-records law in sealing court documents in a civil case.
The trial court could ultimately decide to keep the documents under seal, but it must first cond …
read moreIowa Supreme Court 2016-17 Preview: Court asked to go further on juvenile sentences
The Iowa Supreme Court will hear arguments this month in three cases that could add to a growing body of Iowa law regarding sentencing of juvenile criminal offenders.
In one case, the Court is urged to rule that the appellant’s mandatory minimum sentenc …
read morePolice lights = Fourth Amendment seizure? Maybe
By Ryan Leemkuil
Would you feel free to drive away if a police officer pulled behind your parked car and turned on his cruiser’s emergency lights? Variants of this question were recently before the Iowa Supreme Court, the Eighth Circuit, and …
read moreNinth Circuit says that Iowa and other states cannot sue California over henhouse rules
Mark Cady’s term as Chief Justice of the Iowa Supreme Court renewed for another term
Iowa Supreme Court oral argument recap: Justices go hunting for the DNR’s legislative authority
Justices of the Iowa Supreme Court engaged in a lively exchange with lawyers Wednesday in a case involving the extent of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources’ authority to protect deer from Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD).
Tom and Rhonda Brakke closed t …
read moreIowa Supreme Court 2016-17 Preview: Did DNR go too far in protecting deer from Chronic Wasting Disease?
The owners of a whitetail deer hunting preserve in southern Iowa say the Iowa Department of Natural Resources exceeded its authority in its efforts to prevent the spread of a deer disease, which ultimately led to the closure of the preserve and the loss of nearly $1 million in business.
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FEATURED POSTS
Iowa Supreme Court rejects Planned Parenthood’s constitutional challenge to Iowa law preventing abortion providers from accessing grant funds for sexual education programs
In 2019, the Iowa General Assembly passed a law adding funding conditions that barred abortion providers from participating in two federally funded educational grant programs. These programs focus on educating Iowa’s youth on sexual education, including pregnancy prevention. Planned Parenthood of the Heartland (PPH) has h …
Two Iowa Supreme Court appeals challenge State jurisdiction on Tama Indian Settlement
The Iowa Supreme Court will hear appeals in the coming term on the question of whether the State of Iowa or the federal government has jurisdiction over two criminal cases involving Native American members of the Tama Indian Settlement in Tama County.
The cases are State v. Bear (20-0401) and State v. Cungti …
Iowa Supreme Court holds that signed liability waiver does not protect zip line operator from claims of “gross negligence”
During a visit to the Mt. Crescent Ski Area in Honey Creek, Iowa, Thomas Lukken stepped off an elevated platform and whizzed down a zip line only to be met with a crash at the end, fracturing his neck. The Iowa Supreme Court ruled this term in Lukken v. Century, Inc. that the liability waiver he signed may not have …
Iowa Supreme Court: Godfrey’s discrimination claims fail under both the Iowa Constitution and the Civil Rights Act
Four years ago, three justices of the Iowa Supreme Court said the Iowa Constitution provided a cause of action for a state official bringing a claim against the governor and his staff alleging that they deprived him the constitutional right to due process based on his sexual orientation or partisan politics. Then-Chief Just …
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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.