Aiden Vasquez and Mika Covington v. Iowa Department of Human Services

Summary

The court dismissed the Department of Human Services’ direct appeal as moot because the Department agreed to pay for the two petitioners’ surgeries, eliminating any live controversy and leaving the requested constitutional ruling advisory. The court declined to apply a mootness exception because the record was inadequate and the intertwined statutory and regulatory issues could be presented in a better-developed future case. The court affirmed denial of attorney fees because the proceeding was an administrative judicial-review action, not an action under the Iowa Civil Rights Act, and two statutory exclusions independently barred fees.