Iowa

The Iowa Supreme Court has removed from the bench a magistrate who questioned the veracity of an alleged sexual assault victim because he was a teenage male and asked whether a defendant in a separate case was a “w------.”

Magistrate David J. Hanson, who is based in Fayette County and has practiced law for more than 36 years, is “simply and unalterably unsuited to be a judge,” and is “unable to preside over any proceeding involving a sexual assault,” the court ruled on Friday.

Its decision to remove Hanson from the bench takes effect in 10 days, assuming Hanson has not resigned before then.

Rally · Volunteer organized for Indivisible

When: Saturday, April 19 1 – 3pm CDT

Where: Iowa State Capitol 1007 E Grand Ave Des Moines, IA 50319

About this event: This is a community support rally with 50501 Iowa, and other local organizations. We are coming together and asking attendees to bring the following items to DONATE to The Food Bank of Iowa.

Suggested items: Non-Perishable Food items (canned food) Feminine hygiene products (pads & tampons) Personal hygiene products (toothpaste, soap, shampoo, etc.) Household items (laundry detergent, dish soap, etc.)

ALL ITEMS MUST BE UNOPENED

thank you for coming together in support of community.

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds announced on social media Friday she will not seek reelection to another term — an unexpected move that resets the state's political landscape ahead of a 2026 midterm election year.

"Now, it’s time for me to be there for them," she said. "To help them through the next stage of life. To watch every track meet and basketball game ... I’ll be working hard for you every single day until my term ends." Reynolds' husband, Kevin, was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2023, although she told reporters in 2024 he was doing well after receiving treatment.

Democrats in the state have been hoping to strongly contest the governor's race in 2026, particularly in a midterm year when national political dynamics have historically favored the party that doesn't control the White House.

Iowa's lone Democrat elected to statewide office, Auditor Rob Sand, is expected to run make a run for governor though he has made no formal announcement.

The Iowa Judicial Qualifications Commission, which hears complaints about judges’ conduct, has recommended that the Iowa Supreme Court suspend Hanson, a part-time magistrate who is based in Fayette County and practiced law for more than 36 years. The recommendation is tied to comments made by Hanson in two separate criminal matters.

On Aug. 5, 2022, he refused to sign an arrest warrant for a 17-year-old girl in a sexual abuse case in which the alleged victim was a male. According to court records, Hanson reviewed the matter and, with regard to the alleged victim, stated in writing, “The boy will automatically think, ‘Alright! I’m gonna GET some!’”

In July 2023, Hanson was presiding over a case in which an individual was charged with driving without a license or insurance. A law-student intern who was prosecuting the case later complained that during the proceedings Hanson asked, “Is this guy a wetback? An illegal?” According to the commission, Hanson also asked whether the prosecutor was sure the defendant, who wasn’t present at the time, hadn’t stolen someone’s identification. The intern later complained that Hanson’s conduct made her “extremely uncomfortable” and raised concerns that Hanson, due to his use of a “racist slur,” was biased.

Hanson then likened the decision he faced in that case with what he called the “travesty” of the testimony that was given during the U.S. Supreme Court nomination hearings for Justice Kavanaugh in 2018

The commission recommended the Iowa Supreme Court impose a 90-day suspension without pay and require Hanson to submit to educational training on anger management and bias.

The court has yet to rule on the commission’s recommendation of a 90-day suspension.

When: Saturday, April 5 12 – 2pm CDT

Where: Office of Rep. Zach Nunn 400 Locust St Des Moines, IA 50309

About this event Donald Trump and Elon Musk think this country belongs to them. Des Moines is fighting back!

They're taking everything they can get their hands on—our health care, our clean air and water, our jobs, our services—and daring the world to stop them. This is a crisis, and the time to act is now.

🚨 On Saturday, April 5th, we're taking to the streets to fight back with a clear message: Hands off! 🚨

📍 Where: Outside the Office of Rep. Zach Nunn
📅 When: 12pm, April 5, 2025

This mass mobilization day is our message to the world that we do not consent to the destruction of our government and our economy for the benefit of Trump and his billionaire allies. Alongside Americans across the country, we are marching, rallying, and protesting to demand a stop the chaos and build an opposition movement against the looting of our country.

A core principle behind all Hands Off! events is a commitment to nonviolent action. We expect all participants to seek to de-escalate any potential confrontation with those who disagree with our values.

Check out handsoff2025.com for more information.

Senator Chuck Grassley held a town hall in Hampton, Iowa, where he faced tough questions from constituents about the Trump administration and government oversight.

Attendees expressed frustration with the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Elon Musk, and its impact on federal agencies.

"The courts are doing their job, and they're doing it really well," the unidentified speaker said. "They're reining in Trump and others, but we need to also have the Senate and the House also providing oversight, and it's your job. We are depending on you and the others to save Democracy."

Grassley, who has called himself a "watchdog" in Congress, said he has a staff with 33 investigations going, including one on curbing "government waste.

@mitchd@loops.video

https://loops.video/@mitchd

For context, this is because Adam Gregg decided to resign from being Lieutenant governor to become the CEO of the IA bankers association.

An interesting tidbit on Gregg's wikipedia page is that Gregg clerked for Justice Mark Cady of the IA supreme court. Mark Cady, who died in 2019 was the author Varnum v. Brien (legalizing gay marriage in the state) and Planned Parenthood v. Reynolds which struck down the 72 abortion waiting period law passed in 2017.

I want to speculate about the intra-GOP politics at the Capitol, but honestly don't have enough to go on beyond that.

edit: Seems to be stopped for now, the white house has recinded the memo, we'll see what the fallout is from here.

The memo itself

Congressional Democrats response

#Iowa GOP response

Reynolds: worse than nothing

Nunn: nothing

Hinson: nothing

Miller-meeks: nothing

Feenstra: nothing

Grassley: hasn't made a statement, but he seems to be focusing more on the inspector general firings

Ernst: nothing, most recent statement is about cutting SNAP benefits that came out after the grant and loan freeze

I'm not an expert in federal grant programs in Iowa, obviously it's bad, but it's hard to do something about it without a more comprehensive accounting of what exactly it does to us. I will be updating this post sorting by policy area as I find things, please feel free to share what you find.

#Food security

Governor Reynolds has refused to accept federal summer EBT for multiple years now but this did not directly affect food security within the school year. Iowa had 29 million meals provided through the federal free and reduced lunch program in Iowa in the 22-23 school year that's in jeopardy.

SNAP itself might be more of a grey area since the memo says it doesn't apply to direct individual benefits (I don't fully believe that personally). 259k recipients in Iowa in 2024

#Healthcare

supposedly mediciad isn't going to be affected. one should hope so because there's 1.5million visits paid for by medicaid in Iowa a year

#Education

13.6% of Iowa school funding came from federal sources in 2021-22

#Disaster preparedness

tba

On Dec. 16, Sheriff Tim Lane filed a sworn ethics complaint against Chris Cournoyer, a former Iowa state senator from LeClaire who is now lieutenant governor, with the Iowa Senate Ethics Committee. The complaint accuses Cournoyer of harassment of a citizen, disclosure of confidential information, improper use of confidential information to further her own interests or those of another person, and improperly or illegally obtaining confidential information. Both Lane and Cournoyer are members of the Republican Party.

Lane’s ethics complaint focuses on Cournoyer’s alleged role in handling information tied to the dismissal of Scott County Sgt. Josh Wall, who has admitted waging an unauthorized investigation into Jennifer McAndrew, Lane’s wife. McAndrew supervises probationers for the Iowa Department of Corrections.

According to Lane, Wall testified that he believed McAndrew was violating the rights of a sex offender by monitoring the man’s activities after his probation was completed.

Lane says Wall admitted that the 2023 investigation into McAndrew was unknown to others within the department and that he kept information related to it on a flash drive stored at his home

During the 2024 legislative session, Cournoyer introduced Senate File 2014, later renamed Senate File 2277, which provided that when a county sheriff intends to conduct a disciplinary or criminal investigation of an employee who is also an immediate family member, that investigation would have to be handed over to the attorney general or the Iowa Department of Public Safety. The bill failed to advance after being approved by a committee.

In May 2024, a letter signed by Cournoyer was published in the Quad-City Times. In his complaint, Lane alleges that Cournoyer’s letter served as an endorsement of Chris Laye, his opponent in the Republican primary race for Scott County sheriff.

cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/6063063

OER in Use Across Iowa

The cope I'm huffing here is that Trump is too petty to nominate DeSantis, and that Ernst is popular enough with other GOP senators that she get's the pick over Hagerty.

I think she's quietly one of the least bad GOP senators. She's was fairly vocal in support of police reform in 2020, she's big on reducing sexual assault in the military. Honestly I would have been happy if Ernst was the republican Harris promised to have in her cabinet. (all of the things that would be bad about a conservative SecDef are bipartisan anyway)

Also there's the matter of needing a replacement for Ernst, which would be a lot easier to flip the senate seat she wasn't the one holding it.

How does this keep happening?

"Google Trends saw a dramatic increase in searches for “How to change my vote” as early as the morning of Election Day before the polls were closed, according to Virginia news outlet WAVY." Google Trends link here.