(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird is working on a constitutional amendment that would make clear children do not have to testify in person — in a courtroom — against their alleged abuser. In June, the Iowa Supreme Court overturned the conviction of a man who argued it was unconstitutional for two children to testify against him via a live video link that was shown in the courtroom. “Iowa is the only state that has found that and so I am working in my office to draft a constitutional amendment to solve this problem,” Bird says, “because we have to protect children.”

Four Iowa Supreme Court justices joined the majority opinion that says remote testimony from children in abuse cases violates a defendant’s right to confront their accuser in court. Bird says while she respects the opinion as an officer of the court, the attorney general’s office argued the confrontation clause in the constitution does not require an in-court appearance by a child abuse victim. “They’re kids. It would be hard for them to testify in court about something good that had happened,” Bird says, “much less something really bad and awful that has happened.” Bird, a former county attorney, prosecuted cases involving child sex abuse victims. “I would advise child victims and also adult victims of crime that they did not have to look at the defendant. They are there as a witness,” Bird says, “…but these kids and other victims are often really scared to be there.”

The process of proposing amendments to Iowa’s constitution is long and 2027 is the earliest an amendment on this topic could be presented to voters for ratification. The Iowa Supreme Court’s ruling requiring in-the-courtroom testimony from children is likely to spark appeals from adults who’ve been convicted of child abuse or assault. 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.