(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Supreme Court is considering whether to allow the identity of a student and the parents to remain anonymous in a lawsuit over an alleged assault in the Western Dubuque School District. Attorney Richard Pundt represented the three who were only identified at Father Doe, Mother Doe and Minor Doe in the filing. During oral arguments Wednesday, Pundt said the names were not used because of the electronic court filing system would reveal them.

“We are compelled to bring an anonymous pleading when it involves a minor. The reason the parents need to be anonymous as well is if the parents identity were disclosed, everyone would know who the minor is, and that holds true of the address as well,” Pundt said. Chief Justice Susan Christensen said there are some exceptions to the rule, but questioned if this should be one.

“What allegations are in this case that are that rise to that level of that extra protection we take for child welfare cases or sex abuse cases of the victim. How does that extend beyond that?” she asked. Pundt replied the possible retribution against the minor is the concern. Justice Edward Mansfield said he also has a concern that this case rises to the need for an exception. “The general rule is, the business and courts is done in public. If you’re allowed to name a defendant publicly, kind of the trade off is you come forward publicly,” he says. Punt answered the retribution is the concern if the names are made public in the electronic filing system.

The school district’s attorney Dustin Zeschke said there are two filing rules that require the names to be included. “You’ll notice from plaintiff’s briefing that he acknowledges our rules do not permit a John and Jane Doe petition,” he says. Zeschke was asked if he know of any other cases where the names would need to be kept hidden. “The only case that I could really see that the Court considered and permitted a doe pleading was regarding an H-I-V-diagnosis,” Zeschke said. He said that situation is covered by another statute.

The Justices are also considering some other legal requirements of the case and will rule at a later date.