From yesterday's decision of the Iowa court of Appeals in Cue v. State, written by Judge Tyler Buller and joined by Judges Julie Schumacher and John Sandy:
Cue's … application for postconviction relief … cited New York State Rifle & Pistol Ass'n v. Bruen, 597 U.S. 1 (2022), to claim that Iowa's mandatory-minimum-sentencing scheme for certain class "B" felonies (seemingly as applied and on its face) was incompatible with our historical traditions and therefore cruel and unusual punishment. The district court denied relief, finding Cue cited "absolutely no authority to support his proposition that the Bruen test should be profoundly expanded to include sentencing schemes for sex offenses." …
Cue pled guilty in 2019 to four counts of sexual abuse in the second degree, class "B" felonies in violation of Iowa Code section 709.3(1)(b) (2017), for raping and molesting his minor children over the course of years. The sentencing court ran half of the counts concurrent and half consecutive, amounting to two consecutive twenty-five-year prison sentences, each of which has its own 70% mandatory minimum. We affirmed on direct appeal….
