Iowa
State v. Hidlebaugh
This case asks whether it violates equal protection principles to impose a prison sentence, instead of probation, based on a defendant’s inability to purchase a house. The ºìÐÓÊÓƵ’s State Supreme Court Initiative and the ºìÐÓÊÓƵ of Iowa filed an amicus brief arguing that imposing a harsher sentence based on a criminal defendant’s inability to purchase a home impinges on the equal protection guarantees in the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and article I, sections 1 and 6 of the Iowa Constitution.
Status: Ongoing
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8 Iowa Cases
Iowa
Nov 2024
Voting Rights
Selcuk v. Pate
Just two weeks out from the November 2024 presidential election, Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate issued a directive to county clerks to challenge more than 2,000 voters at the polls on Election Day and force them to vote a provisional ballot that will count only if the voter can prove their citizenship.
The Secretary’s list of more than 2,000 voters does not adequately account for Iowans who have recently become U.S. citizens through naturalization, and thus risks disenfranchising scores of eligible voters based on national origin. The Secretary’s eleventh-hour gambit violates several provisions of the U.S. Constitution and federal law, and we have thus filed emergency suit to enjoin the directive.
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Iowa
Nov 2024
Voting Rights
Selcuk v. Pate
Just two weeks out from the November 2024 presidential election, Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate issued a directive to county clerks to challenge more than 2,000 voters at the polls on Election Day and force them to vote a provisional ballot that will count only if the voter can prove their citizenship.
The Secretary’s list of more than 2,000 voters does not adequately account for Iowans who have recently become U.S. citizens through naturalization, and thus risks disenfranchising scores of eligible voters based on national origin. The Secretary’s eleventh-hour gambit violates several provisions of the U.S. Constitution and federal law, and we have thus filed emergency suit to enjoin the directive.
Iowa Supreme Court
May 2024
Criminal Law Reform
Singer v. Orange City
This case in the Iowa Supreme Court asked whether a city ordinance that mandates rental inspections every five years, irrespective of whether a tenant consents to the inspection and in the absence of individualized probable cause, violates the state constitution. The ºìÐÓÊÓƵ’s State Supreme Court Initiative assisted the ºìÐÓÊÓƵ of Iowa in filing an amicus brief to argue that tenants have a right under the Iowa Constitution to be free from non-consensual searches of their rented homes, absent a showing of individualized probable cause. The court ultimately held that the plaintiffs had raised only a facial challenge to the ordinance, and because the ordinance could operate without violating the Iowa Constitution in at least some circumstances, the challenge failed. The court's decision does not foreclose future challenges on an as-applied basis where the plaintiffs' claims are ripe for review.
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Iowa Supreme Court
May 2024
Criminal Law Reform
Singer v. Orange City
This case in the Iowa Supreme Court asked whether a city ordinance that mandates rental inspections every five years, irrespective of whether a tenant consents to the inspection and in the absence of individualized probable cause, violates the state constitution. The ºìÐÓÊÓƵ’s State Supreme Court Initiative assisted the ºìÐÓÊÓƵ of Iowa in filing an amicus brief to argue that tenants have a right under the Iowa Constitution to be free from non-consensual searches of their rented homes, absent a showing of individualized probable cause. The court ultimately held that the plaintiffs had raised only a facial challenge to the ordinance, and because the ordinance could operate without violating the Iowa Constitution in at least some circumstances, the challenge failed. The court's decision does not foreclose future challenges on an as-applied basis where the plaintiffs' claims are ripe for review.
Iowa
May 2024
Immigrants' Rights
Iowa Migrant Movement for Justice v. Bird
Civil rights groups filed a federal lawsuit to block SF 2340, one of the worst, most far-reaching immigration laws ever passed in the state of Iowa. The measure conflicts with existing federal law and will have a number of dramatic consequences for Iowans. It creates new crimes for anyone in Iowa, including a child, who has reentered the country after being deported, even if that person is now authorized to be in the U.S.
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Iowa
May 2024
Immigrants' Rights
Iowa Migrant Movement for Justice v. Bird
Civil rights groups filed a federal lawsuit to block SF 2340, one of the worst, most far-reaching immigration laws ever passed in the state of Iowa. The measure conflicts with existing federal law and will have a number of dramatic consequences for Iowans. It creates new crimes for anyone in Iowa, including a child, who has reentered the country after being deported, even if that person is now authorized to be in the U.S.
Iowa
Feb 2024
Criminal Law Reform
Racial Justice
State of Iowa v. Lawrence George Canady III
In this case, the Iowa Supreme Court considered when rap lyrics are admissible evidence in criminal trials. The State sought further review of a court of appeals decision which reversed the defendant's criminal convictions and remanded for a trial based on errors in the admission of evidence. Together with the Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project and the ºìÐÓÊÓƵ of Iowa, the State Supreme Court Initiative filed an amicus brief arguing that such evidence should usually be excluded because it is rarely probative and yet creates a high risk of prejudice to the defendant. The Iowa Supreme Court ultimately reversed the Court of Appeals decision, but for narrow and fact-specific reasons. And the Iowa Supreme Court acknowledged that, in cases not involving the peculiar facts of Canady's case, other courts had expressed concerns about the risk that a jury will unfairly use rap lyrics and music as evidence of a defendant's guilt.
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Iowa
Feb 2024
Criminal Law Reform
Racial Justice
State of Iowa v. Lawrence George Canady III
In this case, the Iowa Supreme Court considered when rap lyrics are admissible evidence in criminal trials. The State sought further review of a court of appeals decision which reversed the defendant's criminal convictions and remanded for a trial based on errors in the admission of evidence. Together with the Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project and the ºìÐÓÊÓƵ of Iowa, the State Supreme Court Initiative filed an amicus brief arguing that such evidence should usually be excluded because it is rarely probative and yet creates a high risk of prejudice to the defendant. The Iowa Supreme Court ultimately reversed the Court of Appeals decision, but for narrow and fact-specific reasons. And the Iowa Supreme Court acknowledged that, in cases not involving the peculiar facts of Canady's case, other courts had expressed concerns about the risk that a jury will unfairly use rap lyrics and music as evidence of a defendant's guilt.