Oral arguments before the Iowa Supreme Court are now live and streaming on the Internet. Unless you’re a lawyer, and in most cases involved in the case, you’ll find this about as exciting as watching corn grow in August. There was an outcry the courts were too secretive and maybe something fishy was going on behind those closed doors that allowed the gay marriage decision to come out of the Constitutional closet. 

The idea that somehow the Iowa Supreme Court operates in secrecy is preposterous and leads me back to the Law of Molly. Whenever there is thunder, our dog Molly hides her head under the bed as if that alone will protect her. The photo is Molly after the thunder stopped and she finished hiding her head - just as the Vander Platts group wants you to do. Each is acting foolish.

Too lawyers and judges this is very funny because anyone can watch and listen to oral arguments or any argument in any case, with the exception of family law and juvenile matters in Iowa. But no one does and there’s a good reason. You won’t find these arguments renting at Redbox or streaming live from NetFlix’s. Why? Because most days what we do is boring and wouldn’t even sell to prisoners on death row. So now that oral arguments are streaming live - by all means join us and listen while you work. Follow the link to listen to the excitement of tax law being debated! Bring your own popcorn because the judicial system has no money for hiring vendors.

In other news the Iowa Supreme Court got it right when they rejected the speedier but more secret process of taking away a lawyer’s license. See the Des Moines Register story, Court rejects lawyer suspension secrecy, by Lee Rood.