March 23, 2012

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No. 11-1986

IOWA SUPREME COURT ATTORNEY DISCIPLINARY BOARD vs. JAMES A. SCHALL

Des Moines, March 14, 2012 – Today, the task force established to propose reforms to Iowa's civil justice system released its final report, which is posted on the Iowa Judicial Branch website. The Iowa Civil Justice Reform Task Force studied and considered court innovations to make Iowa's civil justice system faster, less complicated, more affordable, and better equipped to handle the demands of Iowa litigants and users of the civil justice system.

 

In December 2009 the Iowa Supreme Court appointed a 14-member steering committee to oversee the work of the task force. In August 2010, seventy-one additional justice system stakeholders from across Iowa joined the task force. The membership represented business, labor, medicine, industry, consumer groups, the bench and the bar. For more than a year, the task force studied innovative litigation procedures and programs that work well in other parts of the country.

 

"A dedicated group of 84 volunteers representing all shareholders in our court system engaged in a comprehensive assessment of the Iowa civil justice system, including a broad survey of all Iowa lawyers and judges, to identify new court processes and improvements in current practices that will promote efficiencies and reduce the often substantial costs of non-domestic civil cases," said Iowa Supreme Court Justice Daryl Hecht, the chair of the task force.

 

The task force has submitted its report to the Iowa Supreme Court, which will review the recommendations and findings contained in the report and consider implementation of cost-effective and promising reforms that will match the needs of Iowans.

 

The report is on the Iowa Judicial Branch website at:

http://www.iowacourts.gov/Advisory_Committees/Civil_Justice_Reform_Task_Force/index.asp

 

 

# # #

2012

Des Moines, March 5, 2012 ? On Thursday, March 8, members of the Iowa Supreme Court will visit seven Council Bluffs area high schools and also classes at Iowa Western Community College to talk with students about the role of the courts. In Council Bluffs, the justices will visit with students at Jefferson, Lincoln, and St. Albert High Schools and the Iowa School for the Deaf. Justices will also visit Glenwood High School and Treynor High School.

 

In addition to the school visits, the court will hold a special session in Council Bluffs on the evening of Wednesday, March 7. The court will hear oral arguments in two cases at the Iowa Western Community College Arts Center. This session begins at 7 p.m. As always, oral arguments are open to the public. A public reception with the justices, sponsored by the Pottawattamie County Bar Association, will follow the oral arguments.

 

High school visit schedule March 8, 2012:

8:30 a.m.?Chief Justice Mark Cady will visit The Iowa School for the Deaf

8:30 a.m.?Justice Daryl Hecht will visit Council Bluffs Lincoln High School

8:40 a.m.?Justice Thomas Waterman will visit Council Bluffs Lewis Central High School

9:00 a.m.?Justice David Wiggins will visit Council Bluffs Jefferson High School

8:50 a.m.?Justice Edward Mansfield will visit Glenwood High School

9:30 a.m.?Justice Brent Appel will visit St. Albert High School

10:30 a.m.?Justices Wiggins and Waterman will visit Iowa Western Community College

1:00 p.m.?Justice Mansfield will visit Treynor High School

 

Special session:

Wednesday, March 7 at 7 p.m.

Iowa Western Community College Arts Center

2700 College Road

Council Bluffs, Iowa

 

The court will hear attorneys argue in two cases:

Mall Real Estate v. City of Hamburg

Plaintiff, Mall Real Estate, asked the Iowa District Court for Fremont County to declare that the City of Hamburg's "sexually-oriented business" ordinance either did not apply to plaintiff's business or that it was an unconstitutional regulation and could not be enforced against plaintiff's business. The district court found the ordinance did apply to plaintiff's business and that it was a constitutional regulation. Plaintiff appeals the district court determination.

 

The lawyers for Mall Real Estate are: Brian B. Vakulskas and Daniel P. Vakulskas, Sioux City, and W. Andrew McCullough, Utah. The lawyer for the City of Hamburg is Raymond R. Aranza, Cedar Rapids.

 

American Civil Liberties Union v. Atlantic School District

Petitioner, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), seeks additional information regarding discipline imposed on two school district employees after a "locker room strip search" of five female students. The Atlantic School District claims Iowa law does not require public disclosure of such job performance documents. The ACLU argues the Iowa Court of Appeals incorrectly interpreted a recent legislative amendment that should have permitted disclosure of the disciplinary action.

 

The lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union is: Randall C. Wilson, Des Moines. The lawyers for the Atlantic Community School District are: Brett S. Nitzschke, and Emily K. Ellingson, Cedar Rapids.

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