Court Opinion

ID: 9527801
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 03:34:24.64335+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:26:13.630323
License: Public Domain

McCORMICK, Justice
(dissenting).
Any doubt concerning the General Assembly’s intent in defining public accommodation was removed by the 1984 amendment to Iowa Code section 601A.2(10). See 1984 Iowa Acts ch. 1096, § 1. The amendment makes the statute applicable when the accommodation is extended to “nonmembers of the organization or association An amendment may indicate an intent to change the meaning of a statute or to clarify the meaning. Barnett v. Durant Community School District, 249 N.W.2d 626, 629 (Iowa 1977). One well recognized indication of legislative intent to clarify the statute is doubt or ambiguity concerning its meaning. When the amendment occurs in the midst of controversy about the proper construction of the statute, the amendment is entitled to great weight in ascertaining the intended meaning of the prior law. Id.
That situation exists here. I believe the amendment was enacted in response to the present controversy. Because the amendment resolves the doubtful meaning in favor of the construction of the statute advocated by petitioner, I would reverse the district court and remand the case to the commission for further proceedings.