Tag Archives: State: Iowa

CNSNews: “Now stop to think about it – the government getting involved in somebody having a prayer meeting. It appears that the IRS essentially offered this group a quid pro quo – You can become a charity if you don’t protest in front of a Planned Parenthood, generally speaking so you don’t have to worry about 6103,” Grassley said.

ABC: A former rural Iowa court official pleaded guilty Monday to forgery for filing false documents to issue a marriage license to a same-sex couple from central Florida, in the first case of its kind in Iowa.

Des Moines Register: Married same-sex couples have the same rights as married heterosexuals to have both parents listed on the birth certificates of their newborn children, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled this morning. Justices ruled 6-0 . . . | Gartner v. Iowa Dept. of Public Health

Press-Citizen.com: More than 20 Iowa state senators have signed a resolution intended to outlaw abortion in the state, but even a key supporter said Friday it likely won’t get a vote.

The Gazette: Their amendment to House File 120, the judicial branch budget bill, would lower the salaries of the four justices on the seven-member court who were part of the unanimous Varnum v. Brein decision to $25,000 – the same as a state legislator.

Family Leader: “The inalienable right to life of every person at any stage of development shall be recognized and protected.” Those words appear as a proposed Amendment to the Iowa Constitution.

David Hacker appeared on the Zeb Bell Show to discuss this: Iowa college limits free speech to one table. | MP3 audio 12:08 mins

Radio Iowa: The American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa has filed a lawsuit on behalf of three members of the controversial Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kansas. The class action suit seeks to defend the Westboro members’ rights to desecrate the U.S. flag in demonstrations.

Des Moines Register: Dagel’s complaint, which was filed by Des Moines attorney Timm Reid and three lawyers from the Georgia-based Alliance Defending Freedom, seeks a court declaration that the campus policy is wrong.

Des Moines Register: The complaint, which was filed by Des Moines attorney Timm Reid and three lawyers from the Georgia-based Alliance Defending Freedom, seeks a court declaration that the campus policy is wrong, plus attorney fees and “compensatory and nominal damages for the violation” of Dagel’s rights. (complaint is embedded on the web page)

Alliance Defending Freedom filed a lawsuit Monday on behalf of a student prohibited from distributing fliers on campus that protested the use of college funds for a conference on sexuality.

Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys representing a former Planned Parenthood facility director in Iowa filed notice in district court Wednesday that they are appealing her fraud case to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit.

Ruth Institute: A bill has been filed in the Iowa House that would prevent no-fault divorce between parents with minor children was debated yesterday in subcommittee. The bill, House File 338 . . .

KCRG.com: Republicans are again proposing a change in the Iowa Constitution to ban gay marriage.

QC Times: Two years after voters served the Iowa Supreme Court with a shocking blow, the judicial selection process continues to be debated, as witnessed at a forum Saturday with Iowa Supreme Court Justice Thomas Waterman.

Huffington Post: New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman and Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley plan to file a friend-of-the-court brief on Friday, their offices said. Officials in California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington, as well as the District of Columbia, will join the amicus brief.

Blog of the Legal Times: Jane Kelly got an extra friendly reception from the Senate Judiciary Committee at her confirmation hearing Wednesday for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, soaking up a stream of compliments and fielding questions about why diversity in the courts is important.

World Net Daily: They’re targeting 12 key states: Colorado, Iowa, Louisiana, Montana, Alaska, Arkansas, Nevada, North Carolina, South Carolina, South Dakota, Virginia and West Virginia. The strategy was profiled Monday by David Brody of CBN News. Brody said the groups – led by the American Renewal Project – are planning briefings for evangelical pastors, voter-registration drives and other events in an attempt “to restore American to its Judeo-Christian heritage.”

Quad-City Times: Given the continued presence of Gronstal and Democratic control of the Senate, Republican leaders said they’re focused on other matters, such as Iowa’s education and property tax system, and not gay marriage.

Caffeinated Thoughts: State Representative Tom Shaw (R-Laurens) authored House File 138, a personhood bill, which would prohibit abortion from the moment of conception. The bill’s language essentially changes the definition of “person” in the Iowa Code 707.1 which defines murder.

Heartland Connection: The bill he introduced Wednesday would prohibit abortion from the moment of conception. Doctors who perform abortions could be charged with murder.

The HIll: Iowa’s 2014 Senate race is fast becoming an early battleground in the Republican family feud over recruiting “electable” candidates, with an early GOP front-runner scoffing Tuesday at suggestions he wouldn’t survive a general election.

The Hill: Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) will retire from the Senate at the end of 2014, the five-term senator said Saturday.

WCFCourier.com: State Court Administrator David Boyd said Wednesday he believes the Iowa Supreme Court has weathered a “perfect storm” of anti-judicial sentiment that brewed in 2010 following a controversial same-sex marriage decision and disruptive state budget cuts.

One News Now: Alliance Defending Freedom attorney Michael Norton tells OneNewsNow his firm is “very disappointed in this result, but we are not giving up.” “We have an opportunity, we think, to present some of these specifics to this judge, and we’re in the process of putting that together so that we can file a request that the judge reconsider this order and accept the specific evidence that we do have,” the attorney continues.

LifeNews: “Americans deserve to know if their hard-earned tax money is being funneled to groups that are misusing it,” said Senior Counsel Michael Norton, a former United States Attorney who is handling the lawsuit for ADF. “People may hold different views about abortion, but everyone can agree that Planned Parenthood should play by the same rules as everyone else. It certainly isn’t entitled to any public funds, especially if it is defrauding Medicaid and the American taxpayer.”

LifeSiteNews: U.S. District Judge John Jarvey dismissed her case last Friday with prejudice, citing its lack of specificity. The Alliance Defending Freedom helped Thayer file suit in March 2011 . . . Planned Parenthood of the Heartland CEO Jill June calls such lawsuits a form of harassment.

WOI-TV.com: Thayer was assisted in filing the lawsuit by the nonprofit Alliance Defending Freedom, a Christian group that opposes abortions.

LifeSiteNews: A district judge in Iowa has ordered the state to list a lesbian couple as the parents of a stillborn child on his death certificate.

NBC: The University of Iowa has become the first public university in the U.S. to include a question about students’ sexual orientation in their application for admission.

On Brief, Iowa’s Appellate Blog: This afternoon, the Iowa Supreme Court will hear oral argument in Gartner v. Iowa Department of Public Health, which presents the following issue: When a mother gives birth to a child, does the Iowa Supreme Court’s decision in Varnum v. Brien require that the mother’s same-sex spouse be listed on the birth certificate?

Atlanta J. Constitution: A study shows the number of abortions in Iowa hasn’t increased since doctors were allowed starting in 2008 to prescribe an abortion-inducing drug via a remote-controlled system to patients in rural areas, The Des Moines Register reported Friday.

WCFCourier.com reports the results.

Telegraph Herald: Democratic Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal won re-election Tuesday as his party fought to retain its narrow hold on the chamber and prevent Republicans from gaining control of most of the levers of state government. As of early Wednesday, The Associated Press had declared Democrats winners in 9 Senate races. With 13 Democrats not up for re-election, that gives the party 22 of the 26 seats it needs to retain outright control. More than a half-dozen other races remained too close to call or appeared headed for recounts, according to AP’s vote tallies.

Catholic Culture: Bishop R. Walker Nickless of Sioux City purchased a half-page ad in the Sunday edition of the Sioux City Journal to urge readers to vote pro-life.

San Francisco Chronicle: Voters were deciding Tuesday whether to keep Justice David Wiggins on the Iowa Supreme Court or throw him out of office for joining the landmark 2009 decision that legalized gay marriage.

Religion Clause Blog: While the Presidential contest obviously looms largest at the polls tomorrow, those interested in church-state and religious liberty issues are watching a number of down-ballot issues and contests . . .

Washington Post: In Iowa, the front of the ballot usually contains all of the high profile races for president, Congress, the state house or local offices, like county sheriff. Turn that ballot over, and there’s this question: “Shall the following judges of the Supreme Court be retained in office?” It’s followed by the names of four sitting justices. One of those, Justice David S. Wiggins . . .

National Review: It’s certainly not a sure thing, but the fate of one David Wiggins could play a key role in determining, on November 6, who becomes the leader of the free world.

Fox News: A 27-year-old Davenport man has been accused of biting his 4-year-old stepchild in order to punish the child.

Politico: Iowa has joined Texas in warning international election observers of possible criminal prosecution if they violate state laws and get near polling places on Election Day.

Church Report: A jury found Wednesday that a conservative scholar who claims she was passed over for jobs at the University of Iowa law school because of liberal bias didn’t have her 1st Amendment rights violated.

Canada Free Press: Next to Planned Parenthood is Mary’s Choice in Sioux City, Iowa—a women’s resource center designed to help guide, clothe, support, and counsel women who are pregnant and are confused about which way to go. Mary’s Choice was conceived, financed, and built through the efforts of wonderful volunteers and contributors united in their respect for life and devoted to helping mothers and their unborn children. Mary’s Choice is the polar opposite of the Death Camp across the street just meters away. Mary’s Choice is a place of hope, devotion to the unborn and founded not to take but to preserve life. And it has always been a thorn in the side of Planned Parenthood for that very reason.

AP: An Iowa court official is accused of helping a same-sex couple from Florida to get a marriage certificate without stepping foot in the state.

KAALTV.com: On election day, Iowa Supreme Court Justice, David Wiggins future on the bench will be decided by Iowa voters. It’s known as retention and it’s leaving many voters with questions. Sunday, Wiggins spoke with a small crowd in Mason City.

Sioux City Journal: Youngblood said it’s a coincidence that the issue arose about the same time as a national push to overturn the restrictions on churches advocating for candidates or ballot measures. That effort is sponsored by the Alliance Defending Freedom, a Scottsdale, Ariz.-based organization that sponsored its fifth annual Pulpit Freedom Sunday event on Oct. 7. The group said 1,600 pastors across the country signed up to present “biblical perspectives on the positions of electoral candidates.” The group said it hopes to eventually go to court to have the law struck down as unconstitutional because it believes the law violates preachers’ free speech rights.

Clinton Herald: Republicans hold a 59 to 40 edge in the Iowa House, while Democrats hold a 26 to 24 advantage in the Iowa Senate. If Republicans maintain their lead in the House, and take over the Iowa Senate, it would be the first time in 14 years that the GOP controlled the House, Senate and Governor’s seat in Iowa. “Win just two more Senate seats and the majority understands that the private sector creates jobs and grows the economy,” Reynolds said. Reynolds believed not only would the Iowa Senate be controlled by Republicans, but Iowa would send four Republicans to the U.S. House of Representatives.

Washington Post: Judicial elections were once sedate, bottom-of-the-ballot affairs, frequently overlooked by voters focused on the bigger-name races. But there was nothing low-key about the message on a bus that toured Iowa recently, bearing the face of state Supreme Court Justice David Wiggins and a giant “NO.” Nor was there anything decorous about the contingent of lawyers that trailed with a smaller truck urging “Yes Iowa Judges.”

The Gazette: Iowa Supreme Court Justice David Wiggins’ 63 percent favorability rating from fellow attorneys is the lowest score earned by a member of the court in 50 years of judicial retention elections, according to a group calling for his ouster.

Seattle Post Intelligencer: Iowa Supreme Court Justice David Wiggins isn’t well known outside the legal community of his state, and even inside that group, isn’t particularly popular. But the question of whether he should keep his job has become one of the most fiercely contested judicial issues on the Nov. 6 ballot because of what he symbolizes in the debate over gay marriage and the role of courts.

Des Moines Register: “If he’s under a majority, I think that is a good sign for us,” Vander Plaats said, noting that retention opponents spent much of their time in 2010 educating voters on how a retention election works. “I really believe we’re in better shape than we were two years ago.”

AP: The lawsuit argued the commission gives too much influence to lawyers and is unconstitutional because non-lawyers have no say in those appointments.

NPR: “I hope I’m wrong,” says former Iowa Supreme Court Justice Michael Streit. He says he and his fellow justices made a conscious decision not to campaign for their own retention two years ago. But now? “If these forces keep …

Des Moines Register: Former Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum and former gubernatorial candidate Bob Vander Plaats, among others, urged voters to vote “no” on November’s ballot on whether to retain Iowa Supreme Court Justice David Wiggins. Nearby, activists with the Iowa Bar Association shadowed the group to urge exactly the opposite.

Northern-Iowan.org: Although Brother Jed was trying to convert students to Christianity, he said, “Well, we do turn most people off. Jesus turned most people off. He angered most people.” He also disagreed with the Christian students present, saying, “People don’t want to forsake their sin and follow Jesus. That’s the bottom line. A lot of these people that talk about God’s love, they’re claiming they’re still sinning! So they want God’s love, and they want salvation and they want heaven while they continue to sin. And you can’t have both.”

Radio Iowa: New poll: 48% of Iowans support court’s same-sex marriage decision
The poll found 48% of those surveyed agreed with the court’s decision on that same-sex marriage case, a dramatic shift compared to a 2009 survey which found 58% disagreed with the decision. The poll was commissioned by the “Justice, Not Politics” group and released to The Cedar Rapids Gazette . . .

The Hill: Rep. Steve King’s (R-Iowa) campaign has pushed back against a report that he’d denied knowing of any children who’d become pregnant from statutory rape or incest, arguing that he’d been taken out of context and that he meant only that he didn’t personally know of any examples of that happening.

Des Moines Register: Gov. Terry Branstad said today that if Republicans gain control of the Iowa Legislature in November, it’s likely they would support a statewide constitutional referendum on same-sex marriage, as well as restrictions on abortion.

Quad-City Times: Wiggins is one of four Iowa Supreme Court judges up for retention on the November ballot, but he is the only one of the four who was on the bench when the court unanimously ruled in the Varnum v. Brien case to legalize same-sex marriage in Iowa.

Citizen Link: Justice David Wiggins was one of the seven Iowa Supreme Court justices that voted to legislate the state’s new marriage redefinition from the bench in the 2009 Varnum v. Brien case. In 2010, three of the seven justices faced the voters in a retention election (an up or down vote of approval/disapproval held every set number of years) and lost their jobs. Now it’s Wiggins’ turn to face the music . . .

his weekend the New York Times weighed in to defend Justice Wiggins. According to the Times, Republicans are “stoking intolerance and further politicizing a retention election meant to weed out incompetent or corrupt judges.” The paper’s editors apparently forgot to read the Iowa Constitution, which does not guarantee a right to gay marriage. On the other hand, the accountability mechanism that the Times deplores, the retention election, appears explicitly in the text of Article V, Section 17 . . .

The American Prospect: Iowa Republicans aren’t ready to cast aside their anger over the state Supreme Court’s 2009 decision legalizing same-sex marriage. After successfully unseating three of the justices who joined the unanimous decision in 2010, they’re going after Justice David Wiggins, who is up for a retention vote this year. The new conservative campaign won’t change Iowa’s same-sex marriage law, but it further politicizes the state’s once-independent judiciary and may boost turnout for Mitt Romney in a key swing state.

Shannon McGinley at Patch.com: It is impossible to ensure that taxpayer dollars directed to Planned Parenthood for so-called family-planning services don’t also pay for abortions, and it is for that reason alone that it was appropriate for the New Hampshire Executive Council to reject the abortion business’s state contract for family-planning services last year.

LifeNews: On Friday, a federal court agreed with the ACLJ that these allegations, if proven, constitute fraud in violation of federal law,” he said. “The federal court in Texas denied Planned Parenthood’s attempt to have this critical case against the abortion giant thrown out.” . . . “Americans deserve to know if their hard-earned tax money is being funneled to groups that are misusing it,” said Senior Counsel Michael Norton, a former United States Attorney who is handling the lawsuit for ADF. “People may hold different views about abortion, but everyone can agree that Planned Parenthood should play by the same rules as everyone else. It certainly isn’t entitled to any public funds, especially if it is defrauding Medicaid and the American taxpayer.”

Carrie Severino at National Review: Iowa’s supreme-court judges are initially selected by an unaccountable lawyer-dominated commission, via the system known as the Missouri Plan. As in other states, that method of selection has tilted Iowa’s judicial branch to the left on a range of issues, including gay marriage. And just as the people of Iowa demand more accountability, Justice Wiggins and his allies at the Times make the case for less.

Sioux City Journal: “This is something the Legislature needs to address,” Branstad said, during his weekly news conference. “The present law is not clear and we cannot take action unless we have a law that gives us the authority to do so. I have always been one that believes that we have to abide by the constitution and the laws, and that we cannot by administrative rule do things that are not authorized by the law.” Pro-life advocates have urged Branstad to intervene in a controversy stemming from a decision by his administration to deny a request by 41 GOP House members asking the Iowa Department of Human Services to rescind state rules governing pregnancies terminated in cases of rape, incest and fetal deformation.

Des Moines Register: A socially conservative political rally at a Waukee church Saturday served as the kickoff for a renewed effort to throw out the Iowa Supreme Court justices who made same-sex marriage legal. The activist group Iowans for Freedom will run a campaign this fall against the retention of Justice David Wiggins . . .

LifeNews: An Iowa man is facing a misdemeanor charge after getting upset by a pro-life sign an elderly woman was carrying and attacking her and destroying the sign.

Mike Norton and Sue Thayer appeared on The View from a Pew with J. Michael McCoy to discuss Thayer v. Planned Parenthood of the Heartland. | MP3 audio 11:20 mins

IndyStar: Iowa’s human services director has denied a petition from House Republicans demanding that the state Medicaid program stop paying for abortions of pregnancies involving severe fetal abnormalities or caused by rape or incest. Chuck Palmer wrote in a letter Friday that banning state payment for such abortions would violate federal requirements.

Des Moines Register: “Well, he didn’t consult with me and I guess my feeling is he has the right as every citizen has the right to express their opinion on these issues,” Branstad said, referring to Spiker, at his weekly press conference at the Iowa Capitol this morning. “It is a voter decision and it should be up to the voters to decide.”

Mike Norton & Sue Thayer on Who NewsRadio 1040 with Jan Mickelson to discuss the situation. | MP3 audio 27:38 min

Des Moines Register: The Republican Party of Iowa’s chairman is pushing for the ouster of one of the authors of a court decision that legalized same-sex marriage in Iowa . . . Chairman A.J. Spiker, in a statement emailed across Iowa this morning, called for Iowans to vote against Iowa Supreme Court Justice David Wiggins to “help end the bullying of activist judges once and for all.”

Michael Norton on the Janet Mefferd Show to discuss the suit. | MP3 audio mins 13:47

Michael J. Norton appeared on The What’s Up Radio Program with Terry Lowry to discuss the Thayer fraud suit versus Planned Parenthood. | MP3 audio 12:56 mins