Protecting Your Rights Throughout Eastern Iowa Since 1981
Use of marijuana is still illegal in Iowa. In spite of a growing trend of some states to permit marijuana for medical use and a few allowing recreational use, Iowa still has some of the most restrictive marijuana laws in the nation. Marijuana is only permitted for...
The Iowa legislature drafts law, which if passed by that body and signed by the governor, then become state law. Occasionally, the legislature will pass a law and in the course of a prosecution or other litigation, it will be declared unconstitutional by a court. The...
When someone is charged with a crime, one question that is not always obvious is "What crime are the charged with?" Take, for instance, the recent arrest of the Mayor of Fairfax, Virginia. He was involved with a transaction at a hotel where he gave methamphetamine to...
"[P]utting cocaine back in Coca-Cola." Such a reference was bound to crop up regarding an official platform position announced recently by the Iowa Democratic Party, and party principals have been quick to address it and put things into a proper context. "No one is...
The winds of change are blowing, with their power being firmly in evidence in the realm of criminal justice reforms. Indeed, the thrust for reform -- especially in the area of federal criminal law sentencing and in the federal context -- is manifest and growing. That...
Drug policy in the U.S. is sometimes confusing. Drugs can be assigned to the various schedules of the federal drug classification depending on the whim of members of congress. Drug classification may not always make sense, with both Marijuana and Heroin being...
In a somewhat unusual move, the Iowa Supreme Court has accepted a case involving a traffic violation and a $75 fine. While this seems like a far cry from the often momentous issues that the highest court of the state typically deals with, it raises questions that may...
The FBI is currently in the process of assembling a very large drug prosecution, and with the most recent set of indictments filed in Cedar Rapids, the number of individuals charged in Operation Ice Pirates has risen to 20. The investigation into the alleged meth ring...
With the signing of a bill by Iowa's governor, changes in the state's drug sentencing laws will go into effect on July 1 for some non-violent drug offenders. The bill is seen by many as a good start to returning a more reasonable perspective on criminal enforcement of...
Criminal justice reform is very difficult. This session, the Iowa legislature has passed the first "significant" sentencing reform in years. The changes to the sentencing laws will allow some drug offenders to be paroled after serving half their term, allowing the...
