Muscatine High School was at bat in the fifth inning and Spencer Ludman was waiting in the dugout for his turn at bat when a foul ball rocketed off a Davenport Assumption player’s bat and struck Ludman in the head. He suffered a skull fracture, spent months recovering from brain injuries and …
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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 …
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 …
Iowa Supreme Court 2016-17 preview: Does confidentiality in a ‘morbidity and mortality’ report apply to a dislocated shoulder?
Dennis Willard was admitted to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics for treatment of injuries suffered in a motorcycle accident. Among his injuries was a dislocated shoulder, but Willard alleges that was inflicted by hospital staff while he was sedated. Now he is asking the Iowa Supreme …
Iowa Supreme Court 2016-17 preview: Is it possible to guarantee racial balance on Iowa juries?
The Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution says criminal defendants have the right to a jury made up of a cross-section of the community. Assembling a jury that precisely reflects a community’s racial makeup can be statistically challenging in a state with small percentages of racial minori …
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Iowa Supreme Court to hear arguments in five cases Jan. 21
The Iowa Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in five cases Jan. 21, and two cases will be submitted to the Court without oral argument. Following are brief summaries of those cases.
Iowa Court of Appeals December 2024 Published Opinion Roundup
The Iowa Court of Appeals selects certain opinions for publication in the Northwestern Reporter. In December, the Court of Appeals selected eight opinions for publication. Following are summaries of those opinions.
City’s requirement that renters admit city inspectors is not unconstitutional, Iowa Supreme Court holds
A northwestern Iowa city’s ordinance that requires landlords and tenants to allow city officials into apartments to inspect for building code violations is not unconstitutional, at least on its face, because the ordinance may be applied in ways that would not offend the Iowa Constitution, the Iowa Supreme Court said in a decision handed down Dec. 20.
November 2024 Opinion Roundup
The Iowa Supreme Court entered opinions in eleven cases in November 2024. In addition to the four cases covered in individual stories on the blog, the remaining opinions from November are summarized below.
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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.