Criminal trespass to commit a hate crime against supporters of gay rights

The Iowa Supreme Court upheld the conviction of a person under a trespass statute criminalizes trespass with the intent to commit a hate crime, State v. Geddes, 998 N.W.2d 166 (Iowa 2023). See Iowa Code §716.8(3); §729A.2. The defendant targeted homes with rainbow flags or decals and taped anonymous notes saying “burn that gay flag”. The Court rejected the argument that the defendant had a first amendment right to place stickers on someone else’s home. The court found that the statute did not criminalize speech but conduct: trespassing because of the owner’s sexual orientation or association with persons of a certain sexual orientation.