Court Opinion

ID: 9685442
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 14:37:39.695145+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:18:06.024274
License: Public Domain

SCHULTZ, Justice
(dissenting).
I concur with Justice Neuman’s dissent, but I believe that an additional point is warranted. The Iowa Civil Rights Commission concluded that the parent Jaycees were “public accommodations” as defined in Iowa Code section 601A.2(10) (1981) and therefore are subject to the anti-discrimination provisions of Iowa Code chapter 601A. We previously approved an interpretation of section 601A.2(10) by the same agency and stated “[ajlthough construction of this statute is a function of the courts, we have always held that a reviewing court should give appropriate weight to the judgment of agencies charged with the special duty of administering a particular statute.” Good v. Iowa Civil Rights Comm’n, 368 N.W.2d 151, 155 (Iowa 1985) (citations omitted). The majority opinion afforded no weight to the agency interpretation and ignores this principle of statutory construction. I would give the appropriate weight to the agency’s conclusion that this statute applies to the parent Jaycees. Its interpretation coincides with the meaning of the statute as it is understood in contemporary times.
LARSON and LAVORATO, JJ., join this dissent.