Des Moines, September 7, 2017— The Iowa Judicial Branch will join the Iowa Department of Education and The Iowa State Bar Association to present a Constitution Day program for Iowa high school students on Wednesday, September 20. Students will attend the oral arguments in Des Moines and students from around the state will be encouraged to watch the live streaming of two Iowa Supreme Court oral arguments. Both cases involve constitutional issues.
The supreme court will hear attorneys argue in the case City of Cedar Rapids v. Marla Marie Leaf beginning at 9:30 a.m. and State of Iowa v. Danielle Brown beginning at 1:30 p.m. A member of the Iowa Supreme Court will meet with the students prior to the oral arguments and an Iowa Court of Appeals Judge will meet with the students immediately following the oral arguments.
For the Iowa State Bar Association summary and attorney briefs for the City of Cedar Rapids v. Marla Marie Leaf, go to http://www.iowacourts.gov/About_the_Courts/Supreme_Court/Constitution_Day/Behm_et_al_v_City_of_Cedar_Rapids/
For the Iowa State Bar Association summary and attorney briefs for the State of Iowa v. Danielle Brown, go to http://www.iowacourts.gov/About_the_Courts/Supreme_Court/Constitution_Day/Iowa_v_Brown/
Both oral arguments will be live streamed on the Iowa Judicial Branch YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCL6EU7W8kqDKnKPUzMdxr_g
The program includes an online orientation video that students in classrooms across the state will be encouraged to watch before live streaming the morning or afternoon oral arguments. The nine-minute orientation video, entitled "We the People: The Iowa Constitution and Our Courts," begins with Chief Justice Mark Cady addressing the importance of the Iowa Constitution and how the courts use the document to resolve disputes between Iowans. Then, Justice Daryl Hecht explains how a person can appeal a case to the supreme court and what happens during oral arguments. The video is available on the Iowa Judicial Branch website at www.iowacourts.gov/About_the_Courts/Supreme_Court/Constitution_Day
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