Iowa Judicial Branch:
1. Introduction
Within the Iowa Supreme Court Attorney Disciplinary Board 2024 Annual Report submitted pursuant to Iowa Court Rule 35.25, the court communicates under the section “Complaint Intake” on pages 5 and 6:
“Since 2012, Iowa Court Rule 35.4 has given the director for attorney discipline the discretion not to open an investigation when the information provided by the complainant, “if true, would not constitute misconduct or incapacity, or if the complaint is facially frivolous, stale, lacking in adequate factual detail, duplicative, or outside the board’s jurisdiction, or does not otherwise reasonably warrant investigation.
In 2024, approximately 756 potential complaints were filed with the Board. The director exercised her discretion to decline to open investigations of at least 445 of them. Each potential complainant was notified of the decision not to investigate; many complainants chose to resubmit complaints with additional supporting documentation.”
Iowa Supreme Court Attorney Disciplinary Board. 2024 Annual Report: Attorney Disciplinary Board and Grievance Commission. Iowa Judicial Branch, 2024, https://www.iowacourts.gov/static/media/cms/2024_ADB_and_GC_Annual_Report_1B6DD9BD5DA9C.pdf.
2. Records Requested
The following public records request is being submitted to the Iowa Judicial Branch pursuant to Iowa Code § 22.4(2):
(a.) The Iowa Judicial Branch is requested to provide a copy of the 445 or more (“The director exercised her discretion to decline to open investigations of at least 445 of them”) complaints the Iowa Judicial Branch has publicly documented that, “The director exercised her discretion to decline to open…” Please produce the full text of each of the 445 or more declined complaints referenced in the 2024 Annual Report, including any written intake, dismissal, or explanatory documentation. This request does not presume or concede confidentiality under Iowa Code Chapter 22 and Iowa Code § 22.7, nor does it authorize the redaction or withholding of any record not explicitly protected by law and supported with a legal justification and burden-of-proof met by the agency. If any record is withheld in part or in full, the undersigned demands a written justification specifying the statutory basis, including the subsection invoked and the agency’s burden-bearing rationale for each withheld portion.
The purpose of this public records request is to collect data stored and preserved by the Iowa Judicial Branch pursuant to Iowa Code § 22.1(3)(a) for the purpose of building a public database showing all complaints the Iowa Judicial Branch chose to decline to open. The undersigned has documented evidence suggesting a possible paradigm exists that the Iowa Supreme Court Attorney Disciplinary Board Director of Attorney Discipline and the Executive Director she reports to are complicit in attorney misconduct through manipulated procedural dismissals of complaints brought to their attention by the people of the State of Iowa. This request is made in the public interest and for non-commercial, civic accountability purposes.
(b.) The Iowa Judicial Branch is requested to provide the original complaint and investigative case file for the 2024 investigation and case against Brick Gentry, P.C. shareholder Matthew S. Brick. If any record is withheld in part or in full, the undersigned demands a written justification specifying the statutory basis, including the subsection invoked and the agency’s burden-bearing rationale for each withheld portion. The undersigned has documented evidence suggesting that Matthew S. Brick has committed the following acts, which support a forthcoming misconduct complaint that will be submitted during Q4 2025.
- Misrepresentation of the Iowa Code and public records stored and preserved by the City of Newton, IA, while attempting to manipulate a third-party’s understanding of their rights.
- False statement on court document unsupported by evidence.
- Misrepresentation of facts during an Iowa Public Information Board case(s).
- Concealment of records not protected by Iowa Code § 22.7 (public records) related to documented domestic abuse and military sexual trauma (MST).
- The deployment of false allegations of criminal conduct and the restriction of rights and access to public accommodations while failing to present a case with evidence supporting these allegations before the Iowa Court.
- Preliminary review indicates ongoing concern regarding possible misrepresentation of information system capabilities while fraudulently elevating costs (see Iowa Code § 22.3) and delaying and burdening a third-party’s request and right to access public records.
(see also: Kauffman, Clark. “Lawyer for Iowa Cities and Counties Agrees to Law License Suspension.” Iowa Capital Dispatch, 31 July 2023, https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2023/07/31/lawyer-for-iowa-cities-and-counties-agrees-to-law-license-suspension/).
A response is respectfully requested within the time limits set by Iowa Code § 22.8.
3. ISCADB Complaint – Iowa Supreme Court Attorney Disciplinary Board Director of Attorney Discipline Tara M. van Brederode
An ISCADB complaint against Tara M. van Brederode, Director of Attorney Discipline, will be submitted to the Iowa Judicial Branch by July 21, 2025, with documented evidence supporting violations of:
- Iowa Court Rule 32:4.4(a) – “In representing a client, a lawyer shall not use means that have no substantial purpose other than to embarrass, delay, or burden a third person, or use methods of obtaining evidence that violate the legal rights of such a person.”
- Iowa Court Rule 32:8.4(a) – “violate or attempt to violate the Iowa Rules of Professional Conduct, knowingly assist or induce another to do so, or do so through the acts of another;”
- Iowa Court Rule 32:8.4(c) – “engage in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation;”
- Iowa Court Rule 32:8.4(d) – “engage in conduct that is prejudicial to the administration of justice;”
- Iowa Court Rule 32:8.4(g) – “engage in sexual harassment or other unlawful discrimination in the practice of law or knowingly permit staff or agents subject to the lawyer’s direction and control to do so.”
4. The Form of Judicial Complicity and Passive Misconduct Within the Iowa Judicial Branch
An Iowa Judicial Branch judicial officer or licensed attorney’s silence or capitulation when facing evidence of another judicial officer or attorney’s misconduct or criminal acts (see Iowa Court Rules 32:8.3(a) and 32:8.4(d), conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice, when a legal authority knowingly fails to act upon documented evidence of misconduct).
5. The Mercenary and the Idealist
To disarm a mercenary, you simply destroy their source of wealth. To destroy an idealist, you must have what it takes to destroy that man or woman. Otherwise, you would have been better served to never have set foot on the battlefield.
Respectfully,
Michael J. Merritt, USN (Ret.)
Founder, Phoenix Harbor
Writer/Musician
? 2510 S 6th St. D24
Marshalltown, IA 50158
? (641) 387-9935
?? pyrebird@phoenixharbor.net
? phoenixharbor.net
Legal Disclaimer:Phoenix Harbor (2025-00002034) is a registered trade name in Marshall County, IA.
This correspondence does not communicate, imply, or endorse any past, present, or future violation of the United States Code or the Iowa Code. It is submitted solely for the lawful purpose of documenting the lived experience of injustice and respectfully demanding adherence to the ethical standards and disciplinary procedures set forth by the Iowa Judicial Branch pursuant to the Iowa Rules of the Court. At the same time, the author utilizes creative writing allegories and United States military history to illustrate the evidence supporting the current internal social and political war for the spirit of America.
This correspondence contains expressions of public sentiment and a redress of grievances protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America and by Article I, §§ 1, 2, and 7 of the Constitution of the State of Iowa. The unethical within the Iowa Judicial Branch and its licensed community are respectfully requested to contact the following personnel regarding any future false allegations of criminal conduct supported by zero evidence:
