DES MOINES, Iowa — The Iowa Supreme Court has reversed a district court's decision that would have required state legislators to turn over documents to LULAC as part of an ongoing lawsuit.
The decision is the latest development in an ongoing legal battle between the League of United Latin American Citizens of Iowa and the state over a sweeping elections bill passed in 2021.
In late 2021, LULAC served third-party subpoenas to several current and former Republican legislators, seeking "production of meeting documents and communications related to the Legislators' consideration and enactment of the challenged election laws", according to the recent Supreme Court opinion. The subpoenaed documents were limited to meetings and communications with non-legislators.
The legislators objected to the subpoenas, claiming they were not required to produce any documents as they were covered by legislative privilege under the Iowa Constitution.
LULAC ultimately filed a motion to compel legislators to turn over communications. A district court granted the motion, asserting legislators did have legislative privilege, but that privilege was "qualified", meaning it could be superseded when up against "compelling, competing interests".
Legislators sought a writ of certiorari in response to the decision, putting the case before the Iowa Supreme Court.
In a unanimous opinion authored by Justice Dana Oxley, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled the district court had made the wrong decision, and legislators did not have to comply with the subpoenas.
"The communications LULAC seeks by subpoena from the Legislators will not further its underlying claims, and there is no reason to abrogate the legislative privilege in this case, even if we determined it to be a qualified privilege," Oxley writes in part.
"We reverse the district court's judgment granting in part LULAC's motion to compel and remand with instructions to quash the subpoenas," the conclusion reads.
LULAC shared the following statement with Local 5 about the conclusion:
“While we are disappointed in the court's decision to shield our elected representatives from discovery, their voter suppression laws speak loud and clear. Our work continues, and we remain committed to protecting the right to vote in Iowa and specifically the rights of Latino voters in Iowa.“
Read the full opinion here.