Six years ago, the Iowa Supreme Court found the state constitution guaranteed the right to an abortion. “Autonomy and dominion over one’s body go to the very heart of what it means to be free,” then-Chief Justice Mark Cady wrote in the 2018 decision striking down a medically unnecessary 72-hour waiting period for an abortion […]
Susan Christensen
Posted inCentral Iowa
Iowa Supreme Court slashes abortion rights protections, Reynolds calls decision ‘a significant victory’
Just four years after its landmark decision establishing the fundamental right to an abortion as not only protected by the Iowa Constitution, but having greater protection under the state constitution than under the U.S. Constitution, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled on Friday that the right is not in the Iowa Constitution, allowing a state-mandated 24-hour […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Iowa Supreme Court rules out-of-state medical marijuana card is no defense against possession charge
Possessing a valid medical marijuana card issued by another state is not enough to stop someone from being convicted of possession of marijuana in Iowa, a divided Iowa Supreme Court decided in a ruling handed down on Friday. The 4-3 decision came in the case of Pamela Middlekauff, who was convicted of possession of a […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Mask mandate issued for all Iowa courthouses by Chief Justice Susan Christensen
Chief Justice of the Iowa Supreme Court Susan Christensen issued a face mask requirement for all of Iowa’s courthouses on Friday afternoon, which requires everyone entering a courthouse to wear a mask, regardless of vaccination status. “This requirement applies statewide and does not depend on a particular county’s or area’s positivity rate or transmission status,” […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Justice Susan Christensen elected chief justice of the Iowa Supreme Court
Justice Susan Christensen was selected by her fellow justices as the new chief justice of the Iowa Supreme Court on Monday. Christensen succeeds Chief Justice Mark Cady, who died unexpectedly in November. Justice David Wiggins served as acting chief justice following Cady’s death. Wiggins announced in January that he will retire on March 13. “I […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Gov. Reynolds appoints new Iowa Supreme Court judge
On Wednesday, Gov. Kim Reynolds announced the appointment of Judge Susan Christensen of Harlan to the Iowa Supreme Court. In her brief remarks introducing Christensen during a press event Wednesday afternoon, Reynolds presented Christensen as an outsider who will bring to the court a point of view not found in the state’s elite legal circles. […]
