AG Bird drafting constitutional amendment to ensure kids don't have to face abusers in court

Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird said Friday she is working on a constitutional amendment to ensure children are not forced to face their abusers while testifying against them in court.

The Iowa Supreme Court ruled in June that a man accused of physically abusing a two-year-old child could have a new trial because his right to confront witnesses was violated.

Two children testified from a separate room while a live video feed allowed the defendant to see them. The kids, ages eight and 11, did not have to see the alleged abuser while testifying.

The 4-3 Iowa Supreme Court ruling said that one-way visibility violated the Iowa Constitution, and child witnesses must be able to see the defendant while testifying.

Bird said Iowa is now the only state with this policy, and her office is drafting a constitutional amendment to reverse it.

"As a prosecutor who works with child victims, I know just how harmful that is to kids,” Bird said Friday at a taping of Iowa PBS's Iowa Press . "And I believe that the confrontation clause in the constitution, which I respect, does not require what the Supreme Court required, and that’s what we argued in court.”

Iowa law says courts can protect minors from trauma by allowing them to testify from a separate room.

Two county prosecutors told The Gazette it’s not clear from the Iowa Supreme Court decision whether child witnesses will now have to testify in the courtroom or if two-way video would suffice.

Bird said she had cases as a former county prosecutor where victims had to testify in front of perpetrators.

"I would advise child victims and also adult victims of crime that they did not have to look at the defendant because they’re there as a witness,” she said. "The defendant is not in control, and has no control over them. But these kids and other victims are often really scared to be there.”

Amending the Iowa Constitution is a long process. The Iowa Legislature would have to approve the proposed language twice, with one election in between, and then it would go on the ballot for Iowa voters to decide. The earliest that could happen is in 2027.