Alva Review-Courier -

It is often said that there are at least two sides to every story. But every year beginning law school students learn that few things in the law are black or white. Instead, legal cases often fall into the category of “shades of gray.”

A case that illustrates that point is one issued by the Iowa Supreme Court. It is styled Katko v. Briney and is a 1971 decision (although the actions that led to the lawsuit happened in 1967).

Edward and Bertha Briney were a married couple who lived on a 120-acre farm in Iowa. On the farm was a second house that was vacant but in which the Brineys stored some of...