Drake law school bungled donation dispute

Drake Law School botched endowment dispute

Bill Amor of Naperville, Illinois, initially wanted to gift $2.5 million to $3 million of the $22 million in damages he received for wrongful conviction and 22-year prison sentence to attorney Erica Nichols Cook. As the records reported on February 25.

Nichols Cook devoted six dogged years to studying coercive investigations, arson, and unreliable fire science, initially as an attorney with the Illinois Innocence Project and later pro bono to win Amor’s innocence and give her her life back. “I didn’t think he should repay me with a personal gift because I did this job because of the lawsuit, not to get money one day,” said Nichols Cook, who rejected the gift.

Unfortunately, “high hopes” in the search for a suitable repository for these funds turned into an infamous saga that culminated in the dismissal of Nichols Cook as director of the Drake Wrongful Convictions Clinic. The Des Moines Police Department’s investigation ended without any charges being filed. A conversion lawsuit was later filed against Nichols Cook for civil theft, and the case was dismissed a few weeks after it was filed.

The immediate first task of a law school is to teach its students conflict resolution by its own example. The dismissal of Nichols Cook demonstrates appalling ignorance or willful disregard of this duty. All of this could have been avoided by talking to him.

I propose a law school-wide exercise of students, faculty, and administration dedicated to learning what went wrong and how to fix it.

Nelda Barrow Mickle, Des Moines, Drake University School of Law, class of 1977

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Recession risk means caution in property tax discussions

Nationwide, house prices increased by an average of 40% between 2021 and 2024. Property taxes based on appraisals also increased.

According to Warren Buffett, the upcoming economic recession will reduce property valuations in many cities around the world.

Iowans want and deserve property tax relief, but any cuts the state of Iowa makes must be measured and prudent in light of the economic cycle that brought about the recession. Two ideas:

Now reduce property taxes by 10% for each homeowner.

Then eliminate the property tax for homeowners over age 70 with annual income under $80,000 and reduce it by 50% for seniors with income between $80,000 and $120,000.

Cutting property taxes for wealthy seniors will only subsidize their second homes in Florida, Texas or Arizona.

Randyl Taber, Van Meter

What could be wrong with civil rights city by city?

As Iowans, we should be proud of our legislative efforts. We are a state that is leading the nation in eliminating diversity in all its forms, and our latest effort deserves praise. Senate File 579, signed by Gov. Kim Reynolds, says an Iowa city cannot give its citizens more civil rights than Iowa gives them. Don’t you think this is a necessary development? We don’t just want some people to have more rights than other people.

And we certainly don’t want a person living in Des Moines to have more civil rights than a person living in, say, Waukee. This wouldn’t be right. What about Newton? It would certainly not be appropriate for the citizens of Newton to have more civil rights than, say, a person living in Colfax or Sully.

What Senate File 579 It clearly says: A municipality cannot decide on its own what is unfair or discriminatory. Only the state of Iowa can do this. Let’s say, for example, Newton determined that a restaurant could not refuse service to a person wearing a hat. Since the Iowa Civil Rights law says nothing about caps, Newton cannot protect your right to wear a hat while eating your lunch. It may be discrimination, but it is not prohibited.

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What’s causing all this uproar, it seems, is the idea that some people don’t want to identify as just male or female. We are particularly offended by this idea. What Iowa has decided to do is declare that you are either male or female, and that’s where it ends.

Personal identification is no longer allowed. I don’t suggest, at least publicly, that even though I have a boy’s body, I have the hormones and mental traits of a girl. This could destroy civil society, which is already teetering dangerously.

Now I realize I said the same thing about gay marriage and it didn’t work out, but this should definitely be different. This goes far beyond gay marriage; When a gay person says he is gay, he is not clearly saying he is a woman even though he is a man. This transgender thing is unacceptable and will result in a complete social disaster. Our entire belief system will collapse and anarchy will emerge. We can’t have a big man come up to us and say, “I may look like a man, but I’m actually a woman.”

This is not happening, people! Enough is enough, and we should applaud our Legislature for paying attention to the things that really matter; Things that will make our lives better.

Richard Phelps, Mingo

‘Miracle of Breath’ reminded us that goodness still exists

When I finish wiping the tears from my eyes after reading Courtney Crowder’s “The Miracle of Breathing” series, I am filled with awe, joy, and hope. What a beautifully written and inspiring real-life story he shared with readers, reminding us that goodness still exists in such a chaotic and fearful world. We need more uplifting stories in our lives. Thank you!

Diane Harrigan, Altoona

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Register’s Crowder delivers exceptional work

Courtney Crowder’s series about cystic fibrosis deserves a Pulitzer Prize. Superior.

Don C. Yager, Fenton

This article first appeared in the Des Moines Register: Recession risk means caution with property taxes | Literature