By Ryan Leemkuil This morning, the United States Supreme Court agreed to review two cases from the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. In Holt v. Hobbs, the Court will consider the legality of the Arkansas Department of Corrections’ no-beard growing policy. Gregory Holt (a/k/a Abdul…
By Ryan Leemkuil Last June, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled 4-3 in State v. Kooima that a police officer may not stop a vehicle based solely on an anonymous tip that the driver is drunk. The Court, per Justice Wiggins, held that such a stop…
By Ryan Koopmans In June, a bare majority of the Iowa Supreme Court ruled in State v. Kooima that a police officer may not stop a vehicle based solely on an anonymous tip that the driver is drunk. According to Justices Wiggins, Hecht, Appel, and Zager, that violates the…
By Ryan Koopmans This morning, the U.S. Supreme Court denied cert. in Rubashkin v. United States, City of Des Moines v. Kragnes, and Carlson v. Wiggins, three Iowa-based cases that have received local–and in the case of Rubashkin, national–attention. For more information, see our previous…
By Ryan Koopmans When the justices of the U.S. Supreme Court meet for their conference on September 24, they’ll consider whether to add several high-profile cases to their docket; chief among them, the California “Prop 8” case and the challenge to the federal Defense of…
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.
