[This article by Matthew A. McGuire, Spencer S. Cady, and Chris E. Slack was originally published in the August 2024 issue of The Iowa Lawyer magazine.] The period between 2018 and 2022 was a period of great change for the Iowa Supreme Court, with five of the…
The Iowa Supreme Court entered opinions in fifteen cases during June 2024. In addition to individual posts on six cases analyzed on this blog, the remaining opinions from June are summarized below.
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…
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.
In a 4-3 decision, the Iowa Supreme Court held that rational basis review is the applicable standard in addressing challenges to abortion restrictions under the Iowa constitution.
The Iowa Court of Appeals selects certain opinions for publication in the Northwestern Reporter. In February, the Court of Appeals selected six opinions for publication. Following are summaries of those opinions.
Christopher Hidlebaugh accepted a financial challenge in a plea deal with the State: purchase a home to avoid going to prison on a charge of failing to register as a sex offender. The deal fell apart, however, when Hidlebaugh was unable to qualify for financing to purchase a home, and he was sentenced to 15 years in prison by the Dallas County District Court.
A Guthrie County woman made statements to her son that he interpreted as serious threats of violence against a Department of Health and Human Services child protective worker and a judge six days ahead of a hearing regarding the Department’s removal of her minor children from her care. His concerns were reported to law enforcement, and she was subsequently convicted on one count of threat of terrorism under Iowa Code Chapter 708A.
The Iowa Supreme Court entered opinions in ten cases in January 2026. On Brief has analyzed three opinions in separate posts. The remaining opinions from January are summarized below.
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.
