Tag
Iowa

Iowa Legislature Joins Chorus of States Introducing Bills that Intrude On Academic Freedom and Free Speech

Iowa has joined the growing list of states where the legislature has introduced a bill mandating what can and cannot be taught in its public schools, in clear opposition to the First Amendment.

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Judge Dismisses Majority of Nunes’ Family’s Defamation Claims Against Esquire Magazine

The judge is asking the family to submit a new complaint based only on whether the family's dairy farm knowingly hired undocumented workers. The new complaint will also have to contain a new argument showing actual malice.

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Federal Judge Dismisses Devin Nunes Against Ryan Lizza and Esquire Magazine

In his 48-page opinion, District Judge C.J. Williams ruled that none of the 11 allegedly defamatory statements were grounds for defamation. Some, such as Lizza’s claims that Nunes and his family were keeping a “secret,” Williams dismissed because they were too ambiguous to be actionable.

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Farm Pigs Iowa

Federal Judge Says Iowa Can’t Enforce Its Newest Ag-Gag Law

The newest law is the state’s second attempt to stop journalists and activists from going undercover to report on meat processing plants, livestock facilities, and puppy mills. An older version of the bill was struck down as unconstitutional in January.

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Des Moines Police

A U.S. District Judge Dismissed a Police Recording Case in Iowa. The ACLU Says Judge Erred in His Ruling.

According to the plaintiff’s complaint, Daniel Robbins was filming outside a police department in May 2018, having noticed that a police vehicle had been parked in a “no parking” spot. Citing suspicious behavior, the officers detained Robbins, seized his cell phone, recording equipment, and memory cards.

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Gavel

A Small Newspaper in Iowa Wins a Libel Suit, but Legal Costs May Force It to Close

On July 17, 2017, the Carroll Times Herald was sued for libel after it published the first of a series of investigative pieces about a local cop who was having inappropriate relationships with teenage girls. The day after the Times Herald published its first article about the police officer, he filed a libel suit contending that his reputation had been destroyed, along with his employability as a law enforcement officer.

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Devin Nunes Files Defamation Complaint against Reporter Ryan Lizza

The lawsuit argues that Lizza's widely read article, "Devin Nunes’s Family Farm is Hiding a Politically Explosive Secret," is a "legion of lies" and that Lizza published it with the specific intent to harm the congressman’s reputation.

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First Amendment Monument

Iowa Man Sues County Sheriff’s Department for Free Speech Violations

The ACLU is suing an Iowa county’s sheriff’s department on behalf of a man who says his First Amendment rights were violated when he was charged with criminal harassment after he posted negative comments about a police officer’s conduct.

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