Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird has informed the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit that the State of Iowa will be seeking review by the U.S. Supreme Court of the Eight Circuit’s October 2025 ruling affirming the district court’s preliminary injunction barring enforcement of Iowa’s statute that makes it a state crime for
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Slim Supreme Court majority allows public defender to withdraw from representing indigent defendant
Trial courts have a duty under the Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to assure that a criminal defendant who cannot afford to hire a lawyer is provided one at the State’s expense. To comply with that constitutional mandate, Iowa created the Office of State Public Defender (SPD) to employ attorneys to provide indigent defense…
Iowa Supreme Court: TikTok must face the State’s consumer fraud suit in Iowa court
Online video provider TikTok does business with millions of American users in all 50 states, including Iowans who have downloaded the company’s app hundreds of thousands of times and who agree to its terms of service. Still, the company argues, it should not have to defend itself against a lawsuit filed in state court by…
Former Federal Home Loan Bank executive waited too long to file defamation suit, Iowa Supreme Court holds
A plaintiff suing former coworkers at the Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines for defamation waited too long to file suit in Polk County District Court because she failed to act on information she knew or should have known that could have formed the basis for a defamation claim before the statute of limitations…
Iowa Supreme Court: Iowa courts lack jurisdiction to hear suit against Indiana trucking company
Does a foreign corporation consent to the jurisdiction of Iowa’s courts when it registers with the Secretary of State to do business in this state, appoints an agent in Iowa for service of process, and is served with notice of a lawsuit through its Iowa agent?
That is the question put to the Iowa Supreme…
October 2025 Opinion Roundup
The Iowa Supreme Court entered opinions in four cases in October 2025. At the following link, you can read On Brief’s analysis of State v. Manning, concerning whether an officer’s body camera capture of a video being played for the officer qualifies as admissible evidence, by Rox Laird. The remaining opinions from October are…
Divided Iowa Supreme Court reaffirms 2024 decision barring minors’ closed-circuit testimony against accused
The Iowa Supreme Court in a decision issued Dec. 23 reaffirmed its 2024 ruling that allowing testimony by minors in criminal trials via one-way closed-circuit video violates defendants’ right to confront their accusers under the Iowa Constitution.
Citing its 2024 holding in State v. White, the Court reversed the conviction of Lynn Lindaman of…
December 2025 Iowa Court of Appeals published opinion roundup
The Iowa Court of Appeals selects certain opinions for publication in the Northwestern Reporter. In December, the Court of Appeals selected three opinions for publication. Following are summaries of those opinions.
Stephen Dierickx v. DreamDirt Farms and Ranch Real Estate LLC dba DreamDirt Auctions, Tom Bradley, Jason Smith, Harry Gatzionis and Vail Holdings LLC,…
State Auditor may use in-house counsel in appeal on access to Davenport city records
The Iowa State Auditor is a constitutional officer elected by the voters of Iowa to conduct audits of State and local government agencies. The Iowa Attorney General is a constitutional officer elected by the voters of Iowa to provide legal representation to State officers, including the Auditor. What happens when these two independently elected constitutional…
Lawsuit by victims of Davenport apartment collapse not barred by Iowa qualified immunity statute, Iowa Supreme Court holds
Iowa’s statute that provides qualified immunity for municipal employees does not apply to common law negligence claims against the City of Davenport and city employees by families of residents who died in the 2023 collapse of an apartment building and other residents who were injured and left homeless, the Iowa Supreme Court said in a…