Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird is advocating for a constitutional amendment to allow children and individuals with intellectual disabilities to testify via closed-circuit TV, a practice deemed unconstitutional by the Iowa Supreme Court in June.
Bird argues that requiring victims to face their abusers in court can retraumatize them and deter testimony, especially in cases of severe abuse. She emphasized that Iowa is now the only state without this protective option, potentially reducing prosecutions of crimes against children.
The proposed amendment seeks to restore these protections, previously in place for decades. To become law, it must pass the legislature in two consecutive general assemblies before reaching voters in 2028.
