The State of Iowa, not employees, must pay dues owed to union, Iowa Supreme Court rules
Federal appeals court to hear arguments in three cases at Drake Law School Oct. 26
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit will hear arguments in three Iowa cases at Drake University Law School Oct. 26. The session is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. at the Neal and Bea Smith Law Center at 2400 University.
The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, which has courthouses in St. Lou …
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No right to self representation in civil commitment case, Iowa Supreme Court rules
Question before Iowa Supreme Court: Is it enough to say a cow does not belong on a highway?
A driver whose vehicle collides with a cow wandering on a highway might logically assume the owner of the cow is, by definition, responsible for the driver’s injuries and damage to the vehicle. By that logic, the injured driver shouldn’t have to provide evidence of precisely how the owner failed to prevent the cow’s mea …
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Iowa Court of Appeals denies new trial for Cristhian Bahena Rivera
Iowa Supreme Court to hear arguments in eight cases Oct. 10 and 11
The Iowa Supreme Court will hear arguments in eight cases Oct. 10 and 11. Five additional cases will be submitted to the Court without oral arguments. Following are brief summaries of the October cases. [Go to On Brief’s “Cases in the Pipeline” page to read the briefs f …
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Question before Iowa Supreme Court: Was a defendant free to drive off from a police encounter?
The Iowa Supreme Court will hear an oral argument at the University of Iowa in a case that poses a question with an often-elusive answer under the Fourth Amendment: When does a reasonable person feel free to walk or drive away from a police encounter?
The oral argument in this case is set for 1:30 p.m. Sept. 29 at the Un …
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Federal appeals court to hear arguments Sept. 20 on Iowa law barring undercover access to livestock facilities
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit will hear oral arguments in St. Louis Sept. 20 in two appeals brought by the State of Iowa defending statutes that make it illegal to trespass or to lie on a job application to gain entry with the intent of using cameras or electronic surveillance to publicly expose animal cr …
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Iowa Supreme Court to hear a case in Waverly involving a search prompted by a drug-detection dog
Did a law-enforcement officer step across a constitutional line when he touched the cab of a semi-tractor, seeming to direct a drug-detection dog where to sniff for the presence of potentially illegal drugs?
That is the question before the Iowa Supreme Court that will be argued Sept. 19 at Waverly-Shell Rock High School. …
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Iowa Supreme Court to hear arguments in six cases Sept. 13-14
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March 2024 Opinion Roundup
The Iowa Supreme Court entered opinions in ten cases during March 2024. These opinions are summarized below.
Iowa Supreme Court partially affirms trial court in mixed Cedar Rapids public records decision
Cedar Rapids resident Robert Teig asked Cedar Rapids city officials for records related to the hiring of a new city clerk and city attorney. When they mostly denied Teig’s requests, he filed suit naming six Cedar Rapids officials as defendants, which the Linn County District Court dismissed on summary judgment.
Teig ma …
Iowa Supreme Court sends ‘stand your ground’ case back for new trial
Lasondra Johnson was tried for first-degree murder for the shooting death of Jada Young-Mills outside a Waterloo residence. Johnson argued she acted in self defense and the shooting was justified under Iowa’s “stand your ground” law that says a person is justified in the use of reasonable force in the belief that such …
State statute requiring a signature under oath means what it says, Iowa Supreme Court holds
The Iowa Code requires that a plaintiff who brings medical malpractice claims in state court serve the defendant with an affidavit signed by an expert witness regarding the merits of the claim that the medical provider was negligent. The statute requires that the affidavit be signed under oath obligating the witness to be t …
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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.