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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 …
Iowa Supreme Court: Lawsuit challenging governor’s judicial appointment presents a “political question,” not a question for the courts
In State of Iowa ex rel. Dickey v. Besler, an opinion issued in February 2021, the Iowa Supreme Court was confronted with a lawsuit by a private citizen challenging the appointment of and Iowa District Court judge as invalid under state law. The Supreme Court held that a private citizen does possess standing to bri …
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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 …
Des Moines police officers denied immunity for holding crime witnesses, Eighth Circuit rules
Federal courts recently have begun to reexamine the common law doctrine of “qualified immunity” that protects public officials from individual liability where there is no clearly established constitutional or statutory right at stake.
This reconsideration has been prompted in large part by critics of granting qualifi …
Eighth Circuit Vacates Injunction Against Iowa’s Mask Mandate Ban On Mootness Grounds
On Monday, May 16, a panel of judges from the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit vacated an Iowa federal district judge’s injunction barring enforcement of Iowa’s ban of mask mandates in schools. In doing so, the Court of Appeals overturned its prior ruling from January, which affirmed the injunction …
Railroad’s share of drainage district repairs based on benefit, not cost, Iowa Supreme Court rules
A railroad whose tracks cross an agricultural drainage district should be assessed its share of the cost of repairing deteriorated drainage tile based on the railroad’s benefit from the repairs, not the added cost of complying with federal railroad regulations, the Iowa Supreme Court said in a ruling handed down May 6.
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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.