A trial court’s sanction for frivolous litigation in a protracted legal battle over a Johnson County land development was reduced by the Iowa Supreme Court. The sanction was levied against …
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Iowa Supreme Court makes a call for the State in ‘Field of Dreams’ film case
The Iowa Economic Development Authority had the authority to claw back tax credits approved for a documentary film about Iowa’s mystical Field of Dreams baseball story, the Iowa Supreme Court said in a read more
Search ends at personal belongings in a targeted-warrant case, the Iowa Supreme Court rules
Danielle Brown was one of five people in the bedroom of a house when a Des Moines police SWAT team swarmed in to execute a warrant naming a male occupant of the house to be searched for drugs and weapons. Brown was not named in the warrant but police searched her purse and found a small amount …
Question to Iowa Supreme Court: Who are the legal parents of a child born of a surrogate mother?
A case before the Iowa Supreme Court this term poses profound questions of law, biology, genetics and human rights:
Who are the legal parents of a child produced from donated genetic material and born of a surrogate mother?
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Iowa Supreme Court: Trial judge erred on removing a biased juror, but the verdict stands
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May 2024 Opinion Roundup
The Iowa Supreme Court entered opinions in eighteen cases during May 2024. Opinions from May not covered elsewhere on this blog are summarized below.
In four opinions over 61 pages, Iowa Supreme Court wrestles with meaning of Fourth Amendment
Does a drug-sniffing dog violate a suspect’s constitutional protection against unreasonable government search and seizure by putting its paws up on the suspect’s car at the urging of its handler?
Five members of the Iowa Supreme Court said that subjecting the suspect’s car to a sniff by a drug-sniffing dog violated …
Iowa Constitution mandates face-to-face confrontation by witness, Iowa Supreme Court rules
A defendant’s right under the Iowa Constitution to confront witnesses at trial is not satisfied by one-way video testimony where the witness testifying on camera is not able to see the defendant, the Iowa Supreme Court held in a 4-3 ruling handed down June 28. In reaching that conclusion, the Court declined to follow a U.S. Supreme Court precedent and overruled one of its own prior rulings.
Iowa Court of Appeals April 2024 Published Opinion Roundup
The Iowa Court of Appeals selects certain opinions for publication in the Northwestern Reporter. On April 11, 2024, the Court of Appeals selected three opinions for publication, 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.