The Iowa Supreme Court will have a full complement of seven justices when Christopher McDonald is sworn in. McDonald, 44, was appointed by Gov. Kim Reynolds this week, replacing Justice Daryl Hecht, who retired last year as he battles melanoma. Reynolds’ second appointee, after naming…
The Iowa Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments in five cases Feb. 12 and 13, and four other cases will be submitted to the Court without oral argument. Go to On Brief’s Cases in the Pipeline page to read the briefs in these…
The Iowa Supreme Court will hear oral argument Feb. 5 in an interlocutory appeal in a civil suit brought by a Cedar Rapids man who was shot by a Cedar Rapids police officer during a 2016 traffic stop, which left him paralyzed from the neck…
The Iowa Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments in eight cases Jan. 23 and 24. Four other cases will be submitted to the Court without oral argument. Among the cases set for argument is an appeal by two transgender women challenging a decision…
Federal courts in Iowa will operate mostly as usual at least through next week, despite the partial government shutdown, according to statements released this week by federal court administrators. The federal judiciary is on course to continue operating through Jan. 11 using fees and unspent…
After more than a decade of service to On Brief, we are announcing that Rox Laird is stepping away from his role as a contributor to the blog. Throughout his tenure, Rox has authored nearly 500 posts covering the Iowa Supreme Court, the Iowa Court…
The Iowa Court of Appeals selects certain opinions for publication in the Northwestern Reporter. In May, the Court of Appeals selected two opinions for publication. Following are summaries of those opinions.
The developer of a wind energy project planned in Worth County did not have a “vested right” to continue with the project after the Worth County Board of Supervisors enacted an ordinance the developer claimed doomed the project, a divided Iowa Supreme Court held in an April 24 decision.
The Iowa Supreme Court issued opinions in eleven cases in February 2026. At the links immediately below, you can read On Brief’s analysis of the following opinions:
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.
