General

An Iowa organization that advocates on behalf of Hispanic Iowans did not have legal standing to bring suit seeking to dissolve a 13-year-old injunction that barred the Secretary of State from disseminating voter registration materials in languages other than English, the Iowa Supreme Court held in a unanimous decision handed down May 9.
As a

A law enforcement officer making a roadside stop is legally allowed to search a vehicle without a warrant under an “automobile exception” to the protection against unreasonable searches and seizures granted by the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and separately under the Iowa Constitution. That exception, recognized by the United States Supreme Court and

Last year–the calendar year from January 1, 2024 to December 31, 2024–was a productive year for the state’s highest civil court. By my count, the court disposed of 124 causes during the year. This is a significant increase above the court’s usual disposition rate. Some of the court’s production might be attributable to the departure

The Iowa Supreme Court removed a part-time judicial magistrate from the bench in a unanimous decision issued April 18 for violations of the Iowa Code of Judicial Conduct in making a racially derogatory statement in an open court proceeding and by making a “demeaning and sophomoric” justification in a written order denying an arrest warrant.