Iowa

New Iowa law flouts U.S. Constitution's Supremacy Clause

Published

7 months ago

May 19, 2024

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New Iowa law flouts U.S. Constitution's Supremacy Clause

Rick Morain is the former publisher and owner of the Jefferson Herald, for which he writes a regular column.

Where does your primary loyalty lie: as a citizen of America, or as a citizen of Iowa?

Probably seems like a meaningless question. But around the nation, more and more states these days are enacting laws in opposition to those of the federal government, placing the loyalty question front and center. And a growing number of U.S. residents are declaring a preference to honor their state laws above those of the United States.

ORIGINS OF THE SUPREMACY CLAUSE

In terms of settled law, there’s no real dispute: federal law outranks state law. The U.S. Constitution leaves no doubt. Article VI, Clause 2 (the “Supremacy Clause”), reads as follows:

The Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof, and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.

It’s why the United States flag always flies above the flag of any of the 50 states.

The very existence of the U.S. Constitution springs from a period of divided loyalties between local and national perspectives in the few years during and following the American Revolution. The Articles of Confederation, enacted by the wartime U.S. Congress in 1777 and ratified by all thirteen states in 1781, governed the nation until the Articles were superseded by the new U.S. Constitution in 1789.

Created to establish a “league of friendship” among the states, the Articles’ weaknesses almost immediately placed in jeopardy the survival of a new nation. Disputes over territory, war pensions, taxation, and trade soon proved unmanageable, and several of the Founders, including James Madison and George Washington, foresaw America’s demise unless a stronger foundation could be built. The danger led to the Constitutional Convention of 1787 in Philadelphia, and the present-day Constitution, including its Supremacy Clause, has governed the United States ever since.

But the supremacy of federal law has not been unopposed. The so-called “Nullification Crisis” from 1828 to 1833 offered one of the most powerful examples. The crisis occurred when a powerful tariff law, enacted in 1828 under President John Quincy Adams, met strong opposition in Southern states like South Carolina. Agrarian leaders there complained that the tariff created an unfair tax burden on the state’s residents, who had to buy most of their manufactured goods from outside the South.

Vice President John C. Calhoun, who served with President Andrew Jackson, resigned to run for the U.S. Senate in 1832 for a better platform from which to oppose the tariff. Calhoun and some other Southerners declared that the federal tariff violated the Constitution’s goal of equality among the states, and therefore a state could declare it null and void within that state’s boundaries. There were even calls for resort to armed resistance.

Cooler heads prevailed, and with subsequent amendments to the 1828 tariff, the crisis passed. But the idea of nullification, in its most extreme form of secession, did not die, and 30 years later the nation had to decide whether the Supremacy Clause would indeed prevail under the test of the Civil War.

IOWA IMMIGRATION LAW INTRUDES INTO FEDERAL POWERS

Many federal laws have met opposition since the Civil War, of course, but lawsuits brought by individual states against the U.S. government seem to have increased recently, with issues like abortion and immigration providing the impetus in the past few years. Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird has joined numerous multi-state actions challenging Biden administration policies.

In a role reversal, the federal government is now suing Iowa.

In April, Republican state legislators approved and Governor Kim Reynolds signed Senate File 2340. The new law permits Iowa peace officers to arrest an undocumented immigrant who has previously been deported or barred from entering the United States. A state judge could order that the individual be deported back to his or her home country.

Principal U.S. Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian Boynton notified Reynolds and Bird on May 2 that the U.S. Department of Justice would sue Iowa if necessary to block the new law.

Boynton cited specifically the federal government’s intent to enforce “the supremacy of federal law . . .”. Boynton’s letter stated, “SF 2340 is preempted by federal law and violates the United States Constitution.” He gave Iowa officials a May 7 deadline to suspend enforcement of the new law. He added that SF 2340 “effectively creates a separate state immigration scheme” that “intrudes into a field that is occupied by the federal government . . .”

SF 2340, Boynton added, seeks to counteract the federal Immigration and Nationality Act and provisions of federal laws that permit non-citizens “to seek protection from removal to avoid persecution or torture” back in their home country.

In a written statement, Reynolds countered that Iowa had to pass SF 2340 “because the Biden administration refuses to enforce the laws already on the books. I have a duty to protect the citizens of Iowa. Unlike the federal government, we will respect the rule of law and enforce it.”

Bird said in a news release, “Iowa will not back down and stand by as our state’s safety hangs in the balance. If Biden refuses to stop the border invasion and keep our communities safe, Iowa will do the job for him.”

Also suing the state over SF 2340 are the Iowa Migrant Movement for Justice and two individual plaintiffs (using pseudonyms). They are represented by civil rights groups including the American Immigration Council and the Iowa and national American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

The Des Moines Register noted that Iowa’s SF 2340 resembles a recent Texas law, Senate Bill 4, that federal courts have blocked while a lawsuit about its constitutionality is in play.

When Boynton received no response from the state of Iowa to his request that Iowa suspend enforcement of Senate File 2340, the federal government sued the state on May 9, citing both the Supremacy Clause and the Commerce Clause. The Constitution’s Commerce Clause gives the federal government ultimate control over U.S. commerce, and a number of federal laws and court decisions make it clear that “commerce” includes immigration matters.

The federal lawsuit against Iowa cites the fact that a number of Congressional acts give the United States control over immigration. Boynton notes that because international interaction requires flexibility to preserve satisfactory relations among nations, the U.S. government enjoys broad power to determine immigration policies.

The lawsuit cites a number of Supreme Court decisions that establish the federal government’s supremacy over immigration matters.

Getting back to the question that leads off this column: where will Iowans’ patriotism lie in this controversy, with the state or with the nation?

For some, it won’t be an easy choice. Some of Iowa’s most demonstrative flag-waving “patriotic” residents can also be counted with those who most openly oppose migrants. Their dedication to the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution will be tested by SF 2340.

Most of us declare our fidelity to the rule of law. But when laws conflict, we sometimes find ourselves conflicted. In those cases, what determines where we come down?

My guess is that most of us take the easy way out, and leave it up to our personal politics to make the choice for us. For many conservatives, the U.S. Constitution’s Supremacy Clause will take a back seat to Iowa’s SF 2340, and loyalty to the state will prevail over loyalty to the nation.

Editor’s note from Laura Belin: You can read the federal government’s lawsuit against Senate File 2340 here, and the lawsuit filed on behalf of Iowa Migrant Movement for Justice and two individual plaintiffs here. U.S. District Court Judge Stephen Locher has scheduled a hearing on June 10 to hear arguments on plaintiffs’ motions for a preliminary injunction, which would block the state from enforcing the law when it is scheduled to go into effect on July 1.

Top photo was first posted on the Escucha Mi Voz Iowa Facebook page and is published with permission.

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Iowa

Hutchinson CC holds off No. 1 Iowa Western for NJCAA national championship

Published

2 hours ago

December 19, 2024

Press Room

Hutchinson CC holds off No. 1 Iowa Western for NJCAA national championship

CANYON, Texas (KWCH) – In a rematch of a thriller in the season’s second week, the top two teams in junior college football faced off Wednesday night in the NJCAA DI National Championship in Canyon, Texas. For the second time in school history and the second time in the last five years, the Hutchinson Community College Blue Dragons are national champs. The third-ranked Blue Dragons fell into an early, two-touchdown hole, stormed back to take a two-possession lead in the second half and held off No. 1 Iowa Western, 28-23. Hutchinson wraps up its dream season with an 11-1 final record.

Hutchinson completed the season sweep of the nation’s top-ranked team after outlasting Iowa Western on the road, 38-37 in September. Playing for higher stakes on Wednesday night, Iowa Western threatened to put the hammer down early. The Reivers led 14-0 early and held that two-touchdown lead through the first quarter.

Hutchinson got on the board early in the second quarter on a Samari Collier 27-yard run, but trailed 17-7 at the break. The third quarter belonged to the Blue Dragons as they outscored Iowa Western 21-0 to build a 28-17 lead going into the fourth quarter. Capping the run was a Kordell Gouldsby 73-yard punt return inside the final three-and-a-half minutes of the third quarter.

In the final frame, the Reivers scored a touchdown with a little less than 11 minutes left in the game to trim an 11-point deficit to five.

The final half of the final quarter came with its share of drama. This included a blocked field goal that kept the Blue Dragons from expanding its lead and put Iowa Western in a strong position with time and field position on its side. Hutchinson’s defense answered the call and the Blue Dragons held on to bring another title to Hutchinson.

On offense, Hutchinson did most of its damage on the ground led by quarterback Collier who rushed for 109 yards on 16 carries and a touchdown. Through the air, Collier completed six of 16 passes for 80 yards and a touchdown. Backup quarterback Christian Johnson only completed one of five passes, but that completion was huge, a 34-yard third-quarter touchdown to Tre Brown.

Iowa Western quarterback Hunter Dekkers completed 29 of 51 passes for 412 yards, but in a bend-but-not-break performance, the Hutchinson defense stepped up to limit the Reivers’ trips to the endzone as Dekkers only completed two touchdown passes. The Blue Dragon defense also limited Iowa Western’s rush attack and sacked Dekkers four times, three of those by defensive end Marshon Oxley.

For the season, Hutchinson ended its magical ride on a four-game win streak after suffering its lone setback against Kansas Jayhawk Community College rival Butler Community College on Oct. 26.

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Lawsuit claiming pathology 'monopoly' is dismissed by court • Iowa Capital Dispatch

Published

9 hours ago

December 18, 2024

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Lawsuit claiming pathology 'monopoly' is dismissed by court • Iowa Capital Dispatch

A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit alleging a group of central Iowa pathologists conspired to maintain a monopoly at the expense of patients.

The lawsuit was one of three involving allegations of unfair competition, harassment, retaliation and discrimination among central Iowa pathologists.

The suit was filed in May 2024 in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa by four pathologists who last year established Goldfinch Laboratory of Urbandale – physicians Tiffani Milless, Caitlin Halverson, Renee Ellerbroek and Jared Abbott.

The four sued their previous employers, Iowa Pathology Associates of Des Moines and Regional Laboratory Consultants, alleging the two companies tried to suppress competition for pathology services in central Iowa and maintain a monopoly, all in violation of state and federal law.

Each of the companies provides dermatopathology and other pathology services for patients in central Iowa whose physicians require laboratory services that provide medical diagnoses from biological specimens.

The lawsuit alleged that since 2021, IPA and RLC pressured its pathologists to sign employment agreements that include a no-compete clause. At the time, the four IPA-employed pathologists who would later depart and form Goldfinch refused to sign the agreement.

The lawsuit claims the agreement was not intended to prohibit the use of confidential corporate information and was instead aimed at maintaining IPA’s and RLC’s monopoly on services.

As part of its lawsuit, Goldfinch accused IPA of refusing to share biopsy slides with Goldfinch pathologists, even when those slides were required to ensure the continuity of care offered to patients and even when, according to Goldfinch, the refusal “could well have caused harm to patients.”

IPA and RLC denied any wrongdoing and filed a motion to have the case dismissed. U.S. District Judge Rebecca Goodgame Ebinger recently granted the motion after finding that Goldfinch failed to define a geographic market in which consumers had no other source for pathology services.

“Even assuming central Iowa is where the defendants draw a sufficiently large portion of their business, Goldfinch has not sufficiently alleged a plausible reason why potential referral sources cannot practicably turn to alternative sources outside central Iowa,” the judge ruled. “Goldfinch has not plausibly identified a relevant market as required to allege attempted monopolization.”

Two other lawsuits still pending

The federal lawsuit followed a still-pending state court lawsuit filed by IPA and RLC against the four Goldfinch partners in late 2022 that is in the final stages of litigation.

That lawsuit seeks to block Goldfinch from soliciting IPA clients or using IPA information, and alleges the Goldfinch pathologists were “flagrantly, rampantly and disloyally working against” IPA’s interests even before they left IPA.

A bench trial in that case was held last month, but the court has yet to issue a decision and recent post-trial briefs are sealed from public view.

Separately, two of the Goldfinch pathologists — Tiffani Milless and Caitlin Halverson – have filed a discrimination lawsuit against IPA and RLC, alleging they were paid $200,000 to $350,000 annually, which they claim was far less than what some of the less qualified male doctors were paid.

A trial in that case is scheduled for August 2025.

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Iowa

Iowa women’s basketball to retire Caitlin Clark’s No. 22 jersey vs. JuJu Watkins and USC

Published

17 hours ago

December 18, 2024

Press Room

Iowa women’s basketball to retire Caitlin Clark’s No. 22 jersey vs. JuJu Watkins and USC

IOWA CITY — Anyone who has visited Carver-Hawkeye Arena this season has seen the banner rolled up in the rafters, waiting to be unveiled at the perfect time. No one can see what’s on it. But everyone attached to Iowa women’s basketball knows what’s on it.

It comes down Feb. 2.

Caitlin Clark’s No. 22 will be retired on, by no coincidence, 2-2-25, the university announced Wednesday. The ceremony will coincide with arguably the Hawkeyes’ biggest home game of the season, as JuJu Watkins and USC will be in the building to watch Clark’s legacy further cemented in Iowa women’s basketball lore.

“I’m forever proud to be a Hawkeye and Iowa holds a special place in my heart that is bigger than just basketball,” Clark said in a school release. “It means the world to me to receive this honor and to celebrate it with my family, friends and alumni. It will be a great feeling to look up in the rafters and see my jersey alongside those that I’ve admired for so long.”

It was announced in April at the team’s end-of-year celebration that Clark’s jersey would be retired in the near future, a fitting announcement as Iowa honored another team reaching the national title game. After proudly proclaiming she’d take Iowa to its first Final Four in three decades, Clark did that twice and then some with a bevy of unforgettable heroics and accolades.

Atop the list is her unmatched scoring prowess. In a 17-day span from Feb. 15 to March 3, Clark broke Kelsey Plum’s all-time women’s NCAA Division I scoring record, passed AIAW legend Lynette Woodard for the major college scoring record, then passed LSU’s Pete Maravich for most career points in Division I history.

Clark is a two-time recipient of the Wooden, Naismith, Wade, Ann Meyers Drysdale, Honda Cup and AAU Sullivan awards. The two-time consensus national player of the year led Iowa to back-to-back national championship games (2023-24) and three Big Ten Tournament titles (2022-24). Clark also won the Nancy Lieberman Point Guard Award and Dawn Staley Award three times each.

Clark is the only player in NCAA Division I men’s or women’s basketball history to lead her conference in scoring and assists four consecutive seasons. In her senior year, Clark led the nation in 10 different offensive categories, and broke the women’s NCAA Tournament scoring record. She’s since been drafted No. 1 overall to the Indiana Fever, won WNBA rookie of the year and was named TIME Magazines athlete of the year.

“Caitlin Clark has not only redefined excellence on the court but has also inspired countless young athletes to pursue their dreams with passion and determination,” Iowa AD Beth Goetz said in a statement. “Her remarkable achievements have left an indelible mark on the University of Iowa and the world of women’s basketball.

“Retiring her number is a testament to her extraordinary contributions and a celebration of her legacy that will continue to inspire future generations. Hawkeye fans are eager to say thank you for so many incredible moments.”

Dargan Southard is a sports trending reporter and covers Iowa athletics for the Des Moines Register and HawkCentral.com. Email him at msouthard@gannett.com or follow him on Twitter at @Dargan_Southard.

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