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Elena Kagan was confirmed by the U.S. Senate today on a 63 to 37 vote. Iowa’s senators, Chuck Grassley and Tom Harkin, split with Harkin voting in favor. Will add to this list as more are received… I know I join many Iowans in congratulating Elena Kagan on her confirmation to the Supreme Court, she [...]

It’s been said before, but it deserves to be said again: Iowans are a pragmatic people. If the straight-forward and unanimous decision by the Iowa Supreme Court wasn’t enough to convince the world, then you need look no further than the worries now being expressed in western (read: predominantly conservative) Iowa. As politicians and social [...]

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was smiling and back at work today, according to a report from CNN Political Ticker. It was her first public appearance since undergoing surgury for pancreatic cancer earlier this month. The 75-year-old Ginsburg entered the courtroom with her eight male colleagues as they prepared to hear oral arguments after [...]

Iowa Chief Justice Marsha Ternus — the state’s first female chief justice — delivered the 2009 State of the Judiciary address to the Iowa Legislature this morning. In her two previous addresses before lawmakers, Ternus has successfully pressed for more help with juvenile courts and juvenile offenders. While continuing to refer to work with troubled [...]

Kate and Trish Varnum, Cedar Rapids residents and lead plaintiffs in a lawsuit that questions the constitutionality of the Iowa Defense of Marriage Act, are still shocked when they see their names in the newspaper. They have a difficult time grasping the fact that whether not their case is successful in allowing same-sex couples to [...]

A petition requesting the U.S. Supreme Court review the convictions and sentences of an Iowa woman in connection with five 1993 drug-related murders has been denied by the nation’s highest court. Angela Johnson, 41, from Forest City, was convicted by a federal jury on May 24, 2005 of 10 counts of murder in furtherance of [...]

This week’s earworm: “How Soon is Now” by The Smiths Many probably know this song best as the theme from the television series Charmed. The version that is played on the series, however, is performed by Love Spit Love. I like them both and probably would have put the Love Spit Love version here, if [...]

An Iowa Supreme Court decision released this morning has a very personal significance for Iowa resident Bob Krause. He is a brother-in-law of Heidi Anfinson, a Des Moines woman convicted of second-degree murder in the drowning death of her infant son who received court approval today for a new trial. Because of Heidi and the [...]

Iowa woman convicted of second-degree murder in the 1998 drowning death of her infant son will have new day in court An Iowa Supreme Court decision handed down today confirms that legal counsel for Heidi Anfinson was ineffective for not presenting evidence and investigating Anfinson’s claims of postpartum depression. “There was ample evidence of Anfinson’s [...]

There have been very few instances in my life as a reporter in which a courtroom was a happy place. Even when a sentence is justified, I often find myself sympathizing with the family of the offender and lamenting a life that has, for all practical purposes, ended or been severely wounded. As such, I [...]