Citizens' Aide/Ombudsman v. Grossheim

NEUMAN, Justice.

To copy or not to copy? That is the question in this squabble between the Citizens’ Aide/Ombudsman and the Iowa Department of Corrections over a videotaped recording of an incident under investigation at the Iowa State Penitentiary. A protective order issued by the district court permits the Citizens’ Aide to view — but not obtain its own copy of — the videotape. We reverse.

All we know about the disputed tape is that it records an inmate incident which occurred June 30, 1991, in a “hospital side-room” at the prison. After receiving several complaints about the incident,…