Covering Iowa Law and Courts: a Guide for Journalists CHAPTER 1

Covering Iowa Law and Courts: A Guide for Journalists

Chapter 1 Overview of the Iowa Court System

CHAPTER 1: Overview of the Iowa Court System

The American legal system is made up of various separate judicial systems. There are 51 of them in the U.S.: one in each state, and a federal system. All are different in some ways, but they are more alike than not. For the most part, federal courts rule on cases dealing with federal law or federal constitutional questions. State courts deal with state matters. What begins as a state case may be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court when the claim is that a state rule or law violates the protections given a citizen under the United States Constitution. The Constitution overrides any federal law, state law, or state Constitutional provision that is in conflict with it. It is, indeed, the "supreme law of the land."

Trial and Appellate Courts All American judicial systems are essentially divided into two divisions: trial and appellate. The trial courts are the places where the original decision is made. The trial court's duties include making findings of fact and applying the proper law. This can be before a jury supervised by a judge (a jury trial), or only to a judge (called a trial to the court or a bench trial). The appellate courts are where trial court decisions are reviewed on the request of one or both parties, who believe errors were made in the trial that were significant enough to affect the outcome. There are no juries, and no additional evidence or witness testimony is presented. Only arguments, written and oral, are made by attorneys for each party. The appeals court merely reviews the lower court's decision to make sure it was decided accurately. Trial courts are bound by the past decisions and interpretations of appeals courts, called precedent. If one thinks of our system of courts as a ladder, the trial courts are at the lowest, base rung. The state appeals courts and supreme courts are the next steps up in the state systems, with state supreme courts having the final say on matters of purely state law. The United States Courts of Appeals are the intermediate step in the federal system. The U.S. Supreme Court is the highest authority on federal law in this country; the "top rung" of the ladder, in our example.

Civil and Criminal Cases Within those divisions---trial and appellate---all judicial systems are further divided into two main types of cases: criminal and civil. Criminal cases are ones filed by the government (local, state or federal) and pertain to violations of our statutory codes of laws. In other words, if a person is charged with a violation of a law passed by Congress or a state legislature, that person can face criminal charges to hold them accountable for their behavior. Contrary to the belief of some, individuals do not "file criminal charges." A person may report a criminal act to a law enforcement officer, but it is the state or the federal government which actually makes the decision to file and pursue the criminal

Chapter 1 Overview of the Iowa Court System

charges. Likewise, individuals do not dismiss criminal charges after they are filed; the decision to ask for legal dismissal rests with prosecutors. Judges ultimately decide whether to dismiss (drop) charges. Civil cases are usually filed for money damages or to right wrongs. Civil cases are typically filed by individuals or businesses against others. If people feel they have been wronged by others, they may sue for damages. They must prove they suffered specific losses caused by the party they are suing in order to win; those are called damages. Often you will see that an injunction or restraining order has been filed. This is a document, filed in a civil lawsuit, which temporarily restrains or prohibits one party from acting in a certain way until the whole case has been decided, or which requires a party to take certain action. In Iowa, some civil cases are heard in equity. The most common of these is dissolution of marriage (divorce) cases. There are laws which establish the basic outline concerning how these cases are to be handled. Appellate courts add their interpretation of those laws. Using this framework, courts then rule on the specific facts of each case, trying to find the most equitable result for that given situation. Precedent is not as important in equity cases, as they are decided on the unique facts of each case. Criminal cases are based upon criminal statutes, while most civil cases are based upon either contract law or tort law (although there are many other types, including civil rights cases and tax cases as only two examples). Both statutory law and tort law developed from the old English common law, which derived its authority from common usage and custom of the citizens. Many of the principles of common law are incorporated into the statutes legislatures enact and the causes of action leading to tort lawsuits. Statutory law refers to laws passed by an elected body, like a legislature. These are offenses against the public as a whole; violations of the "code of conduct" by which citizens must abide. Statutory law is what most people think of as "the law". Tort law refers to the cause of action that one person or company files against another, such as the typical civil lawsuit where one person sues another for money damages. Tort law is not written specifically in a code, like statutory law. It is instead a general feeling of being wronged, a feeling that one party owes a duty to another. Some situations can fall within both areas. For example, in a traffic accident a driver could be charged with violating a state criminal statute (such as making an improper turn), while that same driver might be sued civilly for committing a tort leading to compensable loss (causing the accident which injured another person).

Iowa Trial Courts The state trial courts in Iowa are all parts of the Iowa District Court, a unified trial court. Trial courts are located in each one of Iowa's 99 counties. While courts are located in each county, typically in a county courthouse, the Clerk of the District Court office and the court system are funded and administered by the State of Iowa. For criminal offenses, the District Court is divided into different divisions, depending upon the seriousness of the offense. The levels and their respective jurisdictional limitations are: magistrate court, simple misdemeanors only; district

Chapter 1 Overview of the Iowa Court System

associate court, all misdemeanors and Class D felonies; and district court, all levels including felonies. Any judicial officer of the Iowa District Court may issue search or arrest warrants. Even for the most serious criminal offenses, such as murder, a defendant may actually be processed through all levels: at the magistrate level for an initial appearance, at the district associate court level for a preliminary hearing, and at the district court for formal trial proceedings. In civil cases, the district court division at which the suit is heard depends upon the dollar amount of damages sought. The jurisdictional limit for small claims court is currently $5,000.00. Small claims may be heard by a magistrate or district associate court. The district associate court may also hear claims where the dollar amount of damages sought is $10,000.00 or less; however, claims in excess of that amount are typically heard by the district court. In order to appeal a trial court decision, a party must exhaust all appeal opportunities at the district court levels. Those who do not agree with the small claims decision of a magistrate or district associate court may appeal to the district court; criminal convictions, no matter at what level of the trial court, are final judgments which may be appealed to the Iowa Supreme Court with one exception. Simple misdemeanor convictions are only appealable if the Supreme Court exercises its discretion and agrees to hear the appeal after the case has already been reviewed on initial appeal by the district court. Defendants who lose in criminal cases (except simple misdemeanors, as already mentioned), and either party in other cases, may appeal as a matter of right to the Iowa Supreme Court after a final judgment or verdict is entered. Another appeal process, called discretionary review, is sometimes used before the entry of final judgment. This allows parties to appeal trial court decisions on matters such as admissibility of evidence or witness testimony. For example, if a trial court refuses to allow certain evidence to be used at trial, a party may apply to the Iowa Supreme Court for review of the lower court decision before the trial, since it would be wasteful to go through the whole trial only to find on later appeal that the lower court's ruling on the evidence was wrong and the case must be retried.

Iowa Appellate Courts Final judgments (decisions) from the Iowa District Court may be appealed to the Iowa Supreme Court. The Supreme Court determines if it will hear the case, or if it will be sent to Iowa's other appellate court, the Iowa Court of Appeals, for review. The Iowa Court of Appeals is nearly unique in this respect. In the federal system and in most state systems, the courts of appeals are intermediate courts; that is, all appeals from trial courts are taken to the courts of appeals, and further appeals may be taken from the court of appeals to the respective supreme courts. In Iowa, all appeals go to the Supreme Court, which then either keeps the case or sends it to the Court of Appeals. The Iowa Court of Appeals is therefore sometimes referred to as a diversionary court since cases are diverted to it from the Supreme Court. A party may ask for further review in the Iowa Supreme Court after the Court of Appeals has decided the case, but this is discretionary and is seldom granted.

Chapter 1 Overview of the Iowa Court System

The Iowa Supreme Court is a court of last resort, meaning that it is the court with final authority to settle cases. (Since grants of further review to the Supreme Court are rarely given, the Court of Appeals is effectively granted this same “court of last resort” status, as well.) Both appeals courts decide what the law is, define those laws that are not clear, and apply the law to the unique facts of each particular case. The rulings of the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals help guide trial court judges who may handle factually similar cases in the future. This is a major part of precedent, as discussed earlier. The Supreme Court is made up of seven justices, while the Court of Appeals has nine members, called judges. Supreme Court cases are heard by the court en banc, meaning by the full seven-member court. Court of Appeals cases, however, are nearly always considered by a panel of three judges. The panels are redrawn at random on a regular basis. Rulings from the Court of Appeals are final judgments. They may be further appealed to the Supreme Court, but the Supreme Court does not have to accept the case for rehearing. Once an Iowa appellate court has ruled on a case, that ruling is the final judgment (unless a federal constitutional issue is involved, which may then allow a party further appeal rights to the U.S. Supreme Court). Other chapters in this guide will deal specifically with civil cases, criminal cases, and the appeals process.