League of United Latin American Citizens of Iowa v. Pate
Iowa Supreme Court held that the plaintiff organization did not have standing to seek to dissolve an injunction entered in a separate case that barred the secretary of state from providing voter registration forms in languages other than English, by claiming such materials fall within an exception to the state law underlying the injunction. The law generally requires all “official documents” to be in English but exempts “language usage required by or necessary to secure” state constitutional or federal law rights. According to the state high court, an organization’s expenditure of resources in response to a law that does not violate or regulate its rights, status, or legal relations is not a legally cognizable injury establishing standing.
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State Court Oral Arguments to Watch for in December
Issues on the dockets include school funding, protection of children in foster care, and the death penalty.