(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Supreme Court has ruled it was unconstitutional to let two children testify remotely against an alleged abuser. The children were in the judge’s office and their testimony was shown in the courtroom, but four Iowa Supreme Court justices ruled that violated the defendant’s right to confront his accusers. Professor Emily Hughes teaches criminal law at the University of Iowa Law School. She says if the video connection had given the children a view of the defendant in the courtroom, the opinion MAY have been different.

“The opinion itself doesn’t say that a two-way video is sufficient,” Hughes says, “so the dissent points out it’s not exactly decided by the court whether a two-way video would suffice or whether the person has to be in the room with the defendant.”

In FEDERAL courts, judges have authority to let children testify in child abuse cases by one-way, closed circuit video. Hughes says the Iowa Supreme Court’s ruling makes clear their decision rests on the IOWA Constitution, not the U-S Constitution.”The Iowa Supreme Court has said that under Article I, Section 10 of the Iowa Constitution, which is what people kind of talk about as the ‘confrontation clause,’ that confrontation means face-to-face and face-to-face means that the defendant can see the witness and the witness is able to see the defendant,” Hughes says.

Iowa Judicial Branch Bldg.

“…They are the people who get to decide what the state constitution means and how to apply it, so that is a pretty powerful part of that opinion because the whole case rested on the Iowa Constitution.” State Senator Janet Petersen, a Democrat from Des Moines, says the ruling is outrageous and she may sponsor a bill to make it clear children could testify against an abuser via a two-way video connection. “I’ve been talking with civil rights attorneys and experts in child protection just to get their take on the ruling,” Petersen says, “just wanting to make sure that if we pursue legislation that would actually work with the current Supreme Court that Iowa has.”

Petersen says her concern is prosecutors may not be able to pursue some cases when the child is the only witness to the abuse. “Kids that feel unsafe testifying in front of their abuser who may not decide not to move forward with the (criminal) case, they’ll also be barred from the civil court room by their 19th birthday,” Petersen says. “Iowa has to address our horrible laws that protect predators and not children.”

Under current Iowa law, a lawsuit against an alleged abuser must be filed in civil court before the victim turns 19. An Illinois law passed in 2023 gives Illinois judges the discretion to let children under 13 testify outside the courtroom when warranted. Last year Colorado’s Supreme Court ruled prosecutors may use outside-the-courtroom testimony from older children, even if the defendant is accused of abuse or assault.