A lot has changed since 1981: Walter Cronkite is no longer the anchor of CBS News, Ronald Reagan is no longer the President, but maybe most notably, the internet has been invented. The internet revolutionized the way states kept records, and states changed with the times. Well, not Iowa. Miller argues that Iowa’s felon name change law, which was last amended in 1981, is now so outdated that it violates the First and Eighth Amendments.
Lucas Alan Miller, Words Have Meaning and Names Have Power: Why Iowa Felons Deserve the Right to Change Their Name, 27 J. Gender, Race & Just. 513 (2024).