(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird is proposing a constitutional amendment to give judges authority to allow children to provide closed circuit testimony against an alleged abuser. It’s a response to a recent Iowa Supreme Court ruling that said defendants have the right to confront their accusers in the courtroom.

“When a child is testifying in court, they’re between six and 10 feet away from their abuser. Imagine testifying in that scenario. It’s scary even for an adult. How much more for a child who’s been hurt?” Bird said. “…Unless something changes, we will see fewer prosecutions of crimes against children, particularly those that are brutal. Kids will be too scared to testify and those cases will get dropped. Criminals will walk free.”

Deputy Attorney General Susan Krisko prosecuted the case that was overturned by the court’s ruling. A therapist told the judge the 10 year old siblings of a toddler who was severely beaten could not testify against their father in the courtroom. “Without that accommodation, those two little boys would not have been able to come in and we would have had to let that man walk and not prosecute the case. That two-year-old little boy would not have gotten justice,” Krisko says.

Sheriffs and prosecutors joined a statehouse news conference to express support for the constitutional amendment that would allow children to testify via closed circuit in certain cases. Linn County Attorney Nick Maybanks recently prosecuted a case involving a 13-year-old girl he calls “A” who’d been molested by her dad for years. “Although we respect the decision of the Iowa Supreme Court and their authority to interpret the Iowa Constitution, we also have a choice,” he said, “and that choice is to enact a constitutional amendment to protect victims like A.”

Iowa Attorney General Brenna bird speaks at a statehouse news conference on Dec. 12, 2024. (RI photo)

Dallas County Attorney Matt Schultz says the court’s ruling creates a real problem for prosecutors pursuing child abuse cases and the constitutional amendment would let voters fix it. “I can’t tell you how disappointed I am in the outcome of the court decision from this summer. These are real crimes,” Schultz said. “…If the institutions of our government won’t protect those who are most vulnerable — our children, then it’s up to us as a people.”

Wayne County Sheriff Keith Davis — president of the Iowa State Sheriffs and Deputies Association — says it’s important to protect children, who are the most vulnerable in these situations. “It’s hard enough to get people to come forward, especially a five year old or a 10 year old when they’ve been a victim of violence, sex abuse,” Davis says. “Even in our small county we see plenty of that.”

The process of amending Iowa’s constitution takes a few years, so this fix would not be immediate. Legislators have to approve the language of an amendment twice and 2028 is the earliest it could be presented to voters in a General Election. Legislators COULD schedule a statewide special election on a constitutional amendment sometime in 2027, but the last time that happened was in June of 1999 — and both proposed amendments on that special election ballot failed.