Essential Estrogen

The Iowa Supreme Court, in an opinion handed down this morning in a Warren County case, granted the state a little more wiggle room in terms of the requirements to commit an individual as a sexually violent predator.

When considering the state's petition to have Bryan Pierce committed as a sexually violent predator, the Warren County District Court found evidence to support that:

1. Pierce had been convicted of a sexually violent offense
2. Pierce suffered from two mental abnormalities -- pedophilia and antisocial personality disorder.

On the issue of whether Pierce was more likely than not to reoffend, the District Court ruled that the state failed to meet the burden of state law requirements since an expert witness could not offer an opinion as to whether or not Pierce would be more likely than not to reoffend within five years. Although the state's witness did testify that Pierce shares similar characteristics with sex offenders who had high rates of reoffense over six- to 15-year periods, the District Court interpreted the Iowa Code to require a "current or present likelihood of reoffense."

The Iowa Supreme Court, after establishing that the state did have the authority to appeal a refusal to commit from the District Court, reviewed the testimony of expert witness that concluded that Pierce would fall "into the higher category of risk and is someone whose level of risk would be more likely than not" to commit future sexual offenses.

"The Act does not require more precise evidence for a reasonable fact finder to conclude Pierce is dangerous and a menace to society if not committed," wrote Supreme Court Justice Michael Steit in the opinion. "The district court erred by refusing to consider evidence of Pierce's lifetime risk. ...Sexual offenses are often crimes of opportunity. It is impossible to predict when Pierce will have access to young children. However, there is abundant evidence Pierce has abused children when the opportunity was presented to him."

At the time of the commitment hearing in District Court, Pierce was 44. He already had an extensive criminal history that included convictions for burglary, interference with official acts, criminal mischief, trespass, eluding, assaulting a police officer and domestic assault. He had also been convicted of three violent sexual offenses. While living with a girlfriend in Missouri in 1987, Pierce fondled and performed oral sex on the girlfriend's 6-year-old son. Pierce pled guilty to sexual abuse in the first degree and was sentence to five years in prison.

Three years later, Pierce was living in Iowa with a different girlfriend and her children. On at least two occasions he fondled the new girlfriend's 7-year-old daughter. That same year, Pierce showed pornographic magazines to a 9-year-old girl he was babysitting and performed oral sex on her. As a result of those incidents, Pierce pled guilty to lascivious acts with a child and third-degree sexual abuse. He was sentenced to 10 years.

Pierce was scheduled for release from prison in late August 2005. However, in early August the Iowa Attorney General's Office filed a petition alleging Pierce was a sexually violent predator and should be committed. In May 2006, following a bench trial, the District Court made its ruling that the state failed to prove its case and Pierce was released from custody.

Because the District Court will now reconsider the case within the scope provided by the Iowa Supreme Court, there is a high likelihood that Pierce will be committed and returned to the custody of some maximum security, state-run facility.

Lee Clancey, current president and chief executive officer of the Cedar Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce, has announced that she will retire from that position effective Sept. 1. Clancey was also the first woman elected as mayor in Cedar Rapids, a position she held for six years.

"I believe that women have the potential to be the kind of leaders who will shift paradigms, encourage and mentor others and celebrate diversity," Clancey said during the 2007 Women's Equality Day celebration in Cedar Rapids. "It's long past time for equal representation with women at the political table, in corporate American board rooms and in leadership positions at all levels. Not only are women wanted to run the nation, they are desperately needed to run it in order to bring important issues to the forefront."

The Chamber's Board of Directors is currently in the process of establishing a search committee that will be led by Brad Hart, secretary for the board and an attorney with Bradley & Riley PC. Officials are not ruling out the possibility of utilizing the services of an executive recruitment firm to assist in "a comprehensive, national search." Clancey will assist in the search effort, according to Allen Witt, chairman-elect of the board. He added that the group anticipates hiring a successor by late summer.

“During Lee’s service, the Chamber has helped our community in several important initiatives, including the transition to a new form of city government, passage of the penny tax for Linn County schools and the development of the downtown master plan,” said Ralph Russell, chairman of the board. “We sincerely thank Lee for her leadership these past three years and suspect she will continue to be a leader in our community in the future.”

During her tenure, Clancey has overseen the implementation of numerous programs for Chamber members including the Chamber Academy, pharmacy discount card, and the Community Gift Certificate. She serves as a board member with Diversity Focus, the Entrepreneurial Development Center, the Technology Corridor Business Alliance and the Iowa Chamber Alliance. She was the first executive director of the Renaissance Group (now the Downtown District).

“It has been an exciting time for me with the Chamber,” Clancey said in a prepared statement. “We have accomplished a great deal in a few short years. However, it is with a sense of excitement that I leave to move on to life’s next adventure. It is also time for the next generation to take the reins.”

The audience in King's Chapel on the campus of Cornell College in Mount Vernon seemed to hold its collective breath Thursday night as George Stephanopoulos gave voice to words about the Democratic presidential nomination process that most in the nation have been impatiently waiting to hear: "The race is over." The same quiet audience emitted whoops of joy a few minutes later when Stephanopoulos said that Iowa's position as the first-in-the-nation caucus state would continue.

"I want to tell you that I do think this race -- the Democratic race -- is over," Stephanopoulos said. "Tuesday night was a decisive tipping point. Mathematically it is simply not possible for Sen. [Hillary Rodham] Clinton to catch Sen. [Barack] Obama in the elected delegates. Beyond that, I think what you are starting to feel in the 48 hours or so since North Carolina and Indiana is the sense inside the Democratic Party that this has to end, that Democrats have to unify behind a single candidate and get on with the business of the general election."

As evidence of his prediction, Stephanopoulos said that Obama was expected to pick up two additional Democratic superdelegates today, placing his campaign ahead of Clinton's for the first time in terms of the coveted pledged superdelegate total.

"By the end of the day tomorrow, [Obama] will be ahead of her by that count as well, and you are going to start to see even more of the ranks closing around him," Stephanopoulos said. "I think it is very possible that Sen. Clinton will stay in the race for another week or two. You see, [Clinton] has never actually lost a race. ... I think this is really a difficult process for her to wrap her head around."

According to Stephanopoulos, Clinton's staff was telling her prior to Tuesday night that she would "win Indiana by a much larger margin -- by 8 or 10 points -- and would hold North Carolina to a very narrow loss, maybe even win it." The disappointment, he said, was evidenced on Clinton's face when she spoke late that night.

"You could see it -- those of you who were able to stay up that long -- you could see it in her face," he said. "I think she was in a little bit of shock and angry. I think she's in the process now of trying to absorb that and figure out how we get out of this primary process."

Looking past the 2008 contests, Stephanopoulos said that Obama, whom he now considers the de facto nominee, not only owes Iowa for his catapult out of the state and into the remaining contests, but, if elected to the White House in November, will reward Iowa by pushing for it to continue the role as the nation's earliest presidential nomination contest.

"As to first-in-the-nation status, I don't think that's going to change," he said. "I hope next time around is not in 2011. You know, this time it started so early that it was almost in 2007. But I think [Iowa's place] is secure. ... Especially if Obama becomes president, he will feel such loyalty to Iowa just as Pres. Clinton felt to New Hampshire that there is no way it will change."

A 36-year-old Cedar Rapids man, who had sex with a woman during a traffic stop while he was working as a member of local law enforcement, was sentenced to six months in federal prison today.

Kevin Sims received the prison term after pleading guilty in January to one count of depriving another of civil rights. At the guilty plea, Sims admitted he was a patrol officer with the Cedar Rapids Police Department during the spring of 2004 and on-duty when he stopped a woman he knew through earlier bar checks. Sims made the stop without contacting dispatch. When the woman informed him that her driver's license was under suspension, Sims again neglected to contact dispatch for a status check and, instead, instructed the woman to pull her vehicle into a nearby park.

At that location, Sims and the woman engaged in sexual intercourse while he was still on duty, in his police uniform, and with his firearm still in his holster. According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, the woman voluntarily engaged in the act believing that by doing what Sims wanted she would escape any criminal charges. Although admitting to driving while under suspension, the woman was not arrested by Sims and was given no other citation.

Three years later, Sims was interviewed by FBI agents. He initially denied the accusations in relation to the traffic stop, but, when confronted with "other information," admitted to having intercourse with the woman. To date, law enforcement has not explained how this case surfaced three years after the fact or the nature of the "information" which led to Sims' confession.

Sims was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by Magistrate Judge Jon Stuart Scoles to six months in federal prison. A special assessment of $25 was imposed, as well as a fine of $2,000, and he will serve one year on supervised release after he serves his prison sentence. There is no parole in the federal system. Sims was released on a bond previously set and is to surrender to the Bureau of Prisons on a date yet to be set. As a condition of his guilty plea, the former officer waived the right to appeal his conviction or sentence. As a further condition of the plea, Sims was required to resign as a police officer and is forever barred from serving as a sworn law enforcement officer.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney C.J. Williams and was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation with the cooperation and assistance of the Cedar Rapids Police Department.