Even before statehood, Iowa had a legal system. There was a Territorial version of the Supreme Court, and, like now, that court was where some of Iowa's earliest controversies were settled. Remarkably, this court made decisions that were sometimes more than 100 years ahead of similar national rulings.

One of the court's first decisions, in 1839, was to refuse to force a man to return to slavery in order to pay a $550 debt. The court ruled that he did need to pay back the money, but this debt could not form a basis on which any "man in this territory can be reduced to slavery."

Iowa became a state 7 years later, in 1846, and even before the Iowa Constitution was written, the Iowa General Assembly legalized inter-racial marriage. This legislature also made the radical decision that women could own property in their own names – even if they had a husband.

Iowa's Constitution took more than 13 years to write. The first Constitutional Convention was held in 1844, but their writings were not ratified. Two more conventions were held, and in 1857 the voters and the Governor said, 'yes.' This constitution stated clearly that slavery was not allowed in Iowa.

In 1868, African-American men were given the right to vote in Iowa, and that same year, the Iowa Supreme Court used constitutional arguments to rule that schools segregated by race were inherently unequal, and therefore unconstitutional. The United States didn't rule on school desegregation until almost 100 years later!

As far as rights for women go, in 1867, the Iowa's Supreme Court ruled that women could have custody rights, and in 1869, affirmed the first U.S. female lawyer, Arabella Mansfield.

Some of these early rulings seem antiquated to us, today, but they were radical in their times. Some have been changed; some re-affirmed. But, like the U.S. Constitution, the Iowa Constitution was framed… to be a beacon of fairness.

(Iowa Constitution, article 1-1)

"All men and women are, by nature, free and equal, and have certain inalienable rights among which are those of enjoying and defending life and liberty, acquiring, possessing and protecting property, and pursuing and obtaining safety and happiness."