Iowa
Judge holds Iowa Department of Corrections in contempt for violating order • Iowa Capital Dispatch
Remarking that it’s not feasible to jail the Iowa Department of Corrections for deliberately violating a court order, a Polk County judge has fined the agency $1,500 for contempt of court.
The penalty stems from a lawsuit that 13 prison inmates, then housed at Anamosa State Penitentiary, filed against the Iowa Department of Corrections in 2018. The inmates alleged the DOC was violating their constitutional rights by denying them access to magazines or other materials with nudity or sexually explicit content.
The lawsuit was triggered by the Iowa Legislature’s 2018 revision of the state law that restricts inmate access to adult content. After the 2018 revisions, the law barred any commercially published material that contained not only sexually explicit content, but also nudity.
A judge in the case concluded the law and the DOC policies that sprang from it were potentially too broad and could infringe on the inmates’ First Amendment rights. The court issued an injunction that stated the DOC “shall not prevent the distribution of materials to (the plaintiffs) and other inmates similarly situated that features mere non-sexually explicit nudity.”
In 2022, with the injunction still in place, one of the plaintiffs sought to hold the DOC in contempt of court, alleging the department was violating the 2019 order by denying his request to purchase lingerie magazines. The inmate later testified that he had filed a complaint with the Iowa Office of Ombudsman on the issue. Court exhibits show that in October 2020, the ombudsman’s office told the inmate it questioned the DOC’s “dubious interpretation and application of the court injunction” — indicating the DOC had been put on notice that it was violating the court order.
At around that same time, another plaintiff complained the DOC had taken away his copy of Sports Illustrated’s swimsuit issue – a magazine that’s commonly available at grocery stores and other mass-market retailers.
During the trial, Dee Radeke, an inmate and prison librarian, testified that after the Legislature amended the law in 2018, a prison security director asked him to pull from circulation any pictures of pin-up girls, graphic novels or novels containing strong sexual content such as “Shades of Grey.”
DOC Executive Officer Rebecca Bowker testified that she followed the court’s order “to a T,” but also testified that she wasn’t sure whether she had even seen the order. In addition, Bowker testified that she believed DOC policy prohibited photos of women in thong bikinis on the grounds that woman’s genitalia would not be “substantially” covered.
The inmates lost their case, with Polk County District Court Judge Jeffrey Farrell concluding they did not have a First Amendment right to possess materials containing nudity. Farrell then turned to the issue of whether the DOC had violated the 2019 injunction while the case was still pending.
The DOC, Farrell concluded, had “violated this order in multiple ways,” in part by amending its own policies in 2022 – long after the inmates had sued and the injunction was issued – in a way that more explicitly barred any materials that included nudity.
“The injunction had been in place for three years at the time DOC changed its policy in 2022,” Farrell noted. “This action shows DOC acted willfully in denying nude content despite the injunction. The DOC denied (one plaintiff’s) request for three editions of Playboy that had been approved under the prior policy.”
Because there were three separate magazines the inmate was denied, Farrell found there were three separate instances of contempt. In determining what sanctions to impose against the DOC, the judge observed it “does not consider jail as a real option, even though there is no excuse for DOC’s failure to comply with the order. DOC as an entity understood the injunction. Still, it amended its policy to ban materials containing nudity and Executive Officer Bowker personally denied some materials containing nudity.”
Adding there was no single individual who could or should be jailed as a result of the “institutional” violations of the court’s order, Farrell imposed the maximum $500 penalty for each of the three violations.
Farrell wrote that he considered awarding the $1,500 to the inmate who pursued the contempt action “so he could receive some remuneration for the unlawful denial of the publications he requested.” The law, however, stipulates the fines are punitive in nature, Farrell noted, and are intended for “the benefit of the state” – the same entity that will be paying the fine.
The Department of Corrections did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Last week, the inmates filed a motion for a new trial as well as an appeal of Farrell’s decision.
Editor’s note: Reporter Clark Kauffman worked for the Iowa Office of Ombudsman from October 2018 through November 2019.
IOWA CITY, Iowa (KCRG) – Iowa City police are asking the public’s help identifying persons of interest connected to a vandalism investigation.
Police said a business was vandalized in the alley behind the 200 block of East Washington Street on Sunday at 2:35 a.m.
Investigators would like to speak with the persons of interest pictured. Police ask anyone who recognizes these individuals to contact them.
Anyone with information or security camera footage of the incident should contact the Iowa City Police Department at 319-356-5275. Iowa City Area Crime Stoppers is also offering a reward up to $1,000 for information that leads to an arrest.
Copyright 2026 KCRG. All rights reserved.
Iowa State football coach Jimmy Rogers assesses the Cyclones’ spring
Iowa State football coach Jimmy Rogers assesses the Cyclones’ spring
Spring commencement arrives at Iowa State this weekend, with a whole new generation of Cyclones set to get their diplomas and move on to the next things in their lives.
The options and choices will set their path for, potentially, the years and decades ahead.
Which got me thinking about the choices and circumstances of this school year that came for Iowa State athletics. There were no shortages of inflection points at which, it seems, programs and an entire athletics department pivoted to new directions.
Let’s explore.
What if Iowa State had hired Taylor Mouser as head football coach?
This seems to be the most discussed “Sliding Doors” moment for Iowa State football fans regarding head coach Matt Campbell’s departure to Penn State. And with good reason. It’s the most obvious, could have had the most immediate impact on the program and would have been largely seen as a continuation of the most successful run in school history.
Would promoting the Iowa State offensive coordinator, though, have been the right move?
If you assume a best-case scenario in which some of the star Cyclone players on offense – think Rocco Becht, Ben Brahmer, Carson Hansen, etc. – stay at Iowa State and a bulk of the coaching staff does as well, there are still likely defections that weaken the roster. Nothing like we saw back in December, but, still, there would be holes – and Campbell’s shoes – to fill by a first-time head coach taking over for a legend.
The calculation, as I see it, has to be – does the Year 1 continuity and relative stability gained by hiring Mouser provide for better long-term results than hiring Jimmy Rogers, who has the benefit of head-coaching experience?
It certainly would have made the fan base feel better back in December, but would it have positioned Iowa State to have better results in 2027 and beyond?
The roster almost certainly would have been “better” in 2026 if Iowa State retained Mouser, but would that have created a more solid foundation for the future or just delayed decay?
This “What If” becomes a lot less intricate and interesting if Rogers just wins a ton this fall and going forward.
What if Penn State had been able to hire Kalani Sitake as its football coach?
I think this is the most interesting question on the list.
By reports, Penn State was on the verge of hiring Sitake from BYU when the Cougars’ boosters – led by the Crumbl Cookie fortune – banded together to put together a financial package to keep Sitake in Provo.
What if they hadn’t, though?
Sitake goes to Penn State, and Dec. 5, 2025, is an uneventful day in Iowa State history rather than one of its most feverish.
But … what happens a few weeks later when Sherrone Moore is fired at Michigan?
Rather than plucking 66-year-old Kyle Whittingham from Utah/forced retirement, do the Wolverines try to make a Michigan Man out of an Ohioan? Does Campbell inherit the seat of Bo Schembechler?
And, for the sake of this thought exercise, if Campbell did move to Ann Arbor, does the timing of that decision change athletics director Jamie Pollard’s options and calculus about Iowa State’s opening? Is Jimmy Rogers still available? Or would he have taken a different opening or opted not to leave Pullman at that later date? Is Mouser the answer in this scenario?
Or is the Buckeye State distaste for the state Up North too much and Campbell returns for Year 11 at Iowa State?
Addy Brown on what went wrong in Iowa State’s loss to Syracuse
Iowa State’s Addy Brown talks about her team’s struggles in a loss to Syracuse in the NCAA Tournament.
What if Addy Brown doesn’t get hurt?
Iowa State women’s basketball was 14-0 on Jan. 4 when it played Baylor in Waco, and the season felt sure to realize the potential that was clear before it started with one of coach Bill Fennelly’s best rosters.
The Cyclones, though, returned home with their first loss and with Addy Brown sidelined with a back injury.
Four more losses in a row followed, and when Brown returned to the floor after six weeks, the Cyclones’ season was floundering.
They salvaged an NCAA Tournament bid, but a first-round exit gave way to a roster collapse with nine players – including Brown and superstar Audi Crooks – leaving via the transfer portal, putting Fennelly’s tenure and future under fire.
If Brown doesn’t get hurt – or just isn’t out as long – does that change the trajectory of the season? The offseason? And what the eventual end of Fennelly’s Iowa State career looks like?
What if Joshua Jefferson doesn’t roll his ankle?
The most recent “What If” I think is also the most straightforward.
If Jefferson’s ankle doesn’t roll in the early minutes of Iowa State’s first-round NCAA Tournament blowout win over Tennessee State, I think the Cyclones get a long second weekend in Chicago, but the Final Four drought probably remains intact.
Jefferson’s rebounding and offensive impact are, I think, enough to give the Cyclones the edge against Tennessee, but Michigan, the Cyclones’ would-be Elite Eight opponent, was just a juggernaut.
I’m not sure even a full-strength Iowa State team would have had more than a puncher’s chance. The Wolverines were just one of the best college basketball teams we’ve seen over the last few decades.
Iowa State columnist Travis Hines has covered the Cyclones for the Des Moines Register and Ames Tribune since 2012. Contact him at thines@amestrib.com or (515) 284-8000. Follow him on X at @TravisHines21.
One of the top Iowa high school football prospects in the state has made his college decision official.
Iowa City Regina High School senior-to-be Tate Wallace has announced he has verbally committed to the University of Minnesota in the Big Ten Conference. Wallace picked the Golden Gophers and head coach PJ Fleck over a finalists Notre Dame, Nebraska, Arizona, Arizona State and Wisconsin.
Wallace narrowed down his list of schools to six at the end of April before making his final decision.
Iowa City Regina Football Standout Tate Wallace Ranked As No. 2 Overall Prospect In Iowa High School Football
The 6-foot-2, 226-pound linebacker is considered the No. 2 overall prospect in the state of Iowa for high school football, and is the No. 21 linebacker in the Class of 2027, according to 247Sports.
In the 247Sports Composite rankings, Wallace is No. 2 in Iowa high school football, No. 29 at linebacker and No. 359 for the Class of 2027.
Along With Minnesota, Tate Wallace Currently Holds Offers From Schools Such As Arizona, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Notre Dame, Tennessee, Iowa State
Wallace currently holds 16 total offers including from the previously mentioned Minnesota, Notre Dame, Nebraska, Arizona, Arizona State, Wisconsin, Iowa State, Kansas State, Purdue, Tennessee, West Virginia, Eastern Michigan, Miami (Ohio), Toledo, UNLV, North Dakota and North Dakota State.
As a junior, Wallace registered almost 50 tackles on defense, with 29 of them being counted as solo stops. He had 18 tackles for loss, 8.5 quarterback sacks and forced two fumbles, as Iowa City Regina advanced to the state championship game of the Iowa High School Athletic Association State Football Championships.
Future Minnesota Golden Gopher Has Been Key Two-Way Starter For Regals
Wallace also hauled in 40 passes for 611 yards with 10 receiving touchdowns on offense for the Regals. As a two-way player for Iowa City Regina during his sophomore season, Wallace had 27.5 tackles, including 16 solo stops, four tackles for loss and a quarterback sack, adding 51 receptions for 752 yards and eight touchdowns.
Back in March, Wallace announced seven spring visits to Notre Dame, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Arizona, Kansas State and Arizona State. He also visited Tennessee this past fall, taking in an SEC contest with the Volunteers.
Along with his success on the football field, Wallace helped lead the Regals to the Iowa High School Athletic Association Boys State Basketball Tournament this past winter. He earned High School on SI all-state honors in the process.
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