Traffic cameras are constitutional–at least if you don’t deny that you were driving
By Ryan Leemkuil
This morning, the Iowa Supreme Court joined a number of courts around the country in rejecting constitutional challenges to a city’s use of traffic cameras (commonly referred to as “automated traffic enforcement,” or “ATE …
The Tinkers go back to the Supreme Court
By Ryan Koopmans
Forty-five years after their free-speech victory over the Des Moines public schools, John and Mary Beth Tinker are going back to the Supreme Court.
In 1965, the Tinkers were among a group …
Iowa Supreme Court to weigh in on Workers’ Compensation battle over surveillance video
By Ryan Koopmans
The Iowa Supreme Court announced yesterday that it will decide whether and when an employer in a workers’ compensation case must turn over a surveillance video of an allegedly injured employee. The case, which pits business gr …
The case of the fainting juror and the doctor who did not tend to her
By Ryan Koopmans
Two doctors are sued for separate acts of alleged negligence against the same patient. During trial, a juror faints and one of the doctors tends to her. Assuming that’s cause for a mistrial in the case against the juror-trea …
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2016-17 Iowa Supreme Court status report: 69 down; 49 to go
Tomorrow the Iowa Supreme Court is expected to hand down one decision, which will bring to 69 the number of cases disposed of in the first seven months of the 2016-17 term.
After the release of tomorrow’s decision, 43 submitted cases will remain to be d …
Northern District Judge Edward J. McManus (1920-2017): A half-century on the bench
U.S. District Judge Edward J. (“Nick”) McManus of Cedar Rapids died Monday. He was 97.
McManus, a native of Keokuk, attended St. Ambrose College in Davenport for two years before transferring to the University of Iowa where he earned bachelor …
Iowa Supreme Court 2016-17 preview: Did Iowa’s anti-slavery delegates in 1857 give criminal defendants broader rights today?
Eight years before the Civil War, drafters of the Iowa Constitution incorporated language into the Bill of Rights aimed at protecting the rights of fugitive slaves who traveled to Iowa. A convicted murderer is now asking the Iowa Supreme Court to apply that language in granting his bid for a ne …
Quit horsin’ around! Your 38-year-old horse doesn’t make you a farmer.
By Ryan Leemkuil
Does a single horse grazing on your property make you a farmer?
Not so, said a majority of the Iowa Supreme Court in
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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.