It is a "familiar principle of judicial restraint" that courts usually "do not decide cases when the underlying controversy is moot." Belin v. Reynolds, 989 N.W.2d 166, 171 (Iowa 2023) (quoting Rhiner v. State, 703 N.W.2d 174, 176 (Iowa 2005))
. While this language "speaks in terms of a refusal rather than a delay in production," Horsfield, 834 N.W.2d at 463 n.6, we have also recognized that a defendant can "refuse" a request "by (1) stating that it won't produce records, or (2) showing that it won't produce records," Belin v. Reynolds, 989 N.W.2d 166, 174 (Iowa 2023). The second category of refusal "can be shown through an unreasonable delay in producing records." Id.
Our recent opinion in Belin v. Reynolds-issued after the district court's ruling in this case-guides several of the open records questions presented here. 989 N.W.2d 166, 169 (Iowa 2023).
Disapprove, The Random House Dictionary (2d ed. 1987)See Refuse, Webster’s Third New International Dictionary (2002) ("to show unwillingness to do or comply with"); Belin v Reynolds, 989 N.W.2d 166, 174 (Iowa 2023) ("[D]ictionaries confirm that a ‘refusal’ can either be stated or shown.").See Belin, 989 N.W.2d at 174 (collecting examples and noting that "refusal can also be implied" and that "[t]he idea of a ‘silent refusal’ is not foreign to English speakers");
. See Refuse, Webster's Third New International Dictionary (2002) ("to show . . . unwillingness to do or comply with"); Belin v. Reynolds, 989 N.W.2d 166, 174 (Iowa 2023) ("[D]ictionaries confirm that a 'refusal' can either be stated or shown."). See Belin, 989 N.W.2d at 174 (collecting examples and noting that "refusal can also be implied" and that "[t]he idea of a 'silent refusal' is not foreign to English speakers"); cf. Silent Treatment, Webster's Third New International Dictionary (2002) ("an act of completely ignoring a person or thing by resort to silence esp. as a means of expressing contempt or disapproval").
And just this term, we again recognized the statute's role in the oversight of our state and its officials, holding that an unreasonable delay in responding to an open records request can constitute a violation of the statute. Belin v. Reynolds , 989 N.W.2d 166, 175 (Iowa 2023). We declared such an interpretation was "consistent with the legislature's stated policy, namely, to encourage the ‘free and open examination of public records.’ "
"[C]ourts do not decide cases when the underlying controversy is moot." Belin v. Reynolds, 989 N.W.2d 166, 171 (Iowa 2023) (citation omitted). An issue is moot when "it no longer presents a justiciable controversy because the issues involved are academic or nonexistent."
While these allegations are rather conclusory, we believe that they would be enough to survive a motion to dismiss under Iowa Rule of Civil Procedure 1.421(1)(f) standards. See Terrace Hill Soc'y Found. v. Terrace Hill Comm'n, 6 N.W.3d 290, 292-93 (Iowa 2024) ("In reviewing a ruling on a motion to dismiss, we accept as true the factual allegations contained in the pleading."); Belin v. Reynolds, 989 N.W.2d 166, 170 (Iowa 2023) ("At the motion-to-dismiss stage, we accept the plaintiffs' factual allegations as true and we view them in the light most favorable to the plaintiffs.").
Just because a government actor is involved does not mean a dispute is public in nature, as Property Holders seems to suggest. See, e.g., Hightower, 8 N.W.3d at 544 (declining to apply the public-importance exception to a defendant's challenge to the amount of her appeal bond because it was not a matter of public importance); Belin v. Reynolds, 989 N.W.2d 166, 171 (Iowa 2023) (finding "no important public interest in further litigation about whether" the governor and her staff "should produce records that they have already produced"); Jackson v. State, No. 18-1850, 2019 WL 4678189, at *2 (Iowa Ct. App. Sep. 25, 2019) (determining an order requiring a postconviction-relief applicant to be held at a state prison rather than a county jail pending his parole-revocation hearing only affected that applicant and was private in nature).