Ruling: Iowa law to keep books depicting sex acts out of K-12 schools can go into effect

DES MOINES — A state law that bans books with certain sexual content from Iowa’s K-12 public schools can go into effect after a federal appeals court on Friday reversed a lower court’s ruling that had stopped the law’s implementation.

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds and Attorney General Brenna Bird praised the ruling as a protection of parental rights.

Lawyers for authors and publishers who challenged the law in court called the ruling a minor setback, pledging to continue their legal effort to stop the law.

In Friday’s ruling, the three-member U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit ruled the district court erred in granting the plaintiffs’ request for a preliminary injunction and vacated that injunction.

That means the law could go into effect in three weeks, pending any legal challenges to the ruling. That could put the law into effect roughly one week into the 2024-25 school year for most Iowa public schools.

The Appeals Court ruling also said the plaintiffs could pursue further legal challenges through the district court by narrowing the scope of its challenge.

“The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit confirmed what we already knew — it should be parents who decide when and if sexually explicit books are appropriate for their children,” Reynolds said Friday in a statement. “Here in Iowa, we will continue to focus on excellence in education and partnerships with parents and educators.”

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Iowa Rep. Jennifer Konfrst, a Democrat from Des Moines who leads the Democrats in the Iowa House, on Friday asserted the Republican-written law was “never about parental choice” but instead about “censorship and politics.”

“A parent can decide that they don't want their child to read a certain book. However, one parent or politician should not get to decide that an entire school can't read that book,” Konfrst said in a statement. “These book bans go against our American values of freedom of speech and expression.”

What law does

In 2023, Reynolds and statehouse Republicans passed a law that bans books with depictions of sex acts from K-12 schools and prohibits the teaching of sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through sixth grade. The law exempts religious texts.

As Senate File 496 was implemented ahead of the 2023-24 school year, Iowa schools pulled hundreds of books off their shelves in fear of violating the new law, while many districts also expressed frustration with a lack of guidance from the state as to what materials violate the law.

A group of authors, publishers, education groups, and LGBTQ+ advocates filed a lawsuit in federal court arguing the law violated their First Amendment rights to free speech.

District Court Judge Stephen H. Locher in December 2023 issued a preliminary injunction, halting enforcement of the law and calling it “wildly overbroad.”

The ruling

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit heard arguments over the law in June, and on Friday unanimously ruled that Locher issued the preliminary junction “based on a flawed analysis of the law.”

In its ruling, the Appeals Court said Locher failed to consider “what activities by what actors do the laws prohibit or regulate,” failed to determine “which of the laws’ applications violate the First Amendment,” and finally failed to “measure the unconstitutional applications against the remaining provisions.”

“Here, the district court, in analyzing the facial challenge to the Library Program, weighed the number of books justifying the restrictions against the number of books identified by the (plaintiffs) that have been swept up in the restrictions,” Judge Ralph R. Erickson wrote in the court’s opinion, which was joined by Judge James B. Loken and Judge L. Steven Grasz.

“But for facial challenges, ‘the question … is whether a law’s unconstitutional applications are substantial compared to its constitutional ones,’” Erickson wrote, referring to legal precedent.

Erickson and Grasz were appointed by Republican President Donald Trump and Loken by Republican President George H.W. Bush.

Reaction

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Bird, in a statement, celebrated the ruling.

“We went to court to defend Iowa’s school children and parental rights, and we won,” Bird said. “This victory ensures age-appropriate books and curriculum in school classrooms and libraries. With this win, parents will no longer have to fear what their kids have access to in schools when they are not around.”

In a joint statement, lawyers for the plaintiffs expressed disappointment that the U.S. Court of Appeals lifted the injunction, allowing the law to possibly go into effect. But they also noted the Appeals Court made room for further legal challenges to the law.

Lambda Legal, the ACLU of Iowa and Jenner & Block issued the joint statement. They represented the nonprofit LGBTQ+ advocacy organization Iowa Safe Schools and eight Iowa students and their families who they argued are affected by the law.

“Iowa families, and especially LGBTQ+ students who will again face bullying, intimidation, and censorship as they return for a new school year, are deeply frustrated and disappointed by this delay,” the legal groups for the plaintiffs said in the joint statement. “Denying LGBTQ+ youth the chance to see themselves represented in classrooms and books sends a harmful message of shame and stigma that should not exist in schools.

“We are, however, encouraged by the 8th Circuit’s complete rejection of the State’s most dangerous arguments, and we look forward to renewing our request for relief from this law’s damaging and unconstitutional effects on LGBTQ+ students,” the statement continued.

“The appeals court acknowledged that our student clients have been harmed by the law and have the right to bring suit. The court also rejected the State’s claim that banning books in libraries is a form of protected government speech. We will ask the district court to block the law again at the earliest opportunity.”

Iowa Safe Schools Executive Director Becky Tayler expressed concern for LGBTQ+ students in the interim but also pledged that her group will continue its legal fight against the law.

“In the short term, the state will now be able to persist in their obsession with erasing LGBTQ+ students from Iowa classrooms and libraries,” Tayler said in a statement. “While literary classics like ‘1984,’ ‘The Color Purple,’ and ‘Brave New World’ will undoubtedly be banned from school libraries again, Iowa Safe Schools will be continuing to fight for our students in district court.”

‘Political football’

Teachers and school officials have said many of the law’s provisions are too vague and difficult to implement. That concern was illustrated in a statement issued Friday by the president of the statewide teachers’ union, the Iowa State Education Association.

“Banning essential books in our schools is a burden for our educators, who will face punishment for not guessing which book fits into a supposed offensive category, and for our students, who are deprived of reading from great authors with valuable stories,” Iowa State Education Association President Joshua Brown said in a statement.

“If Iowa’s elected leaders truly valued education professionals, they would leave important classroom decisions to the local school districts and the experts who work in them — not make what we teach our students a game of political football.”

Christy Hickman, a lawyer for the Iowa State Education Association, said when the law goes back into effect, school districts will return to “the chaotic unknown of trying to interpret and comply with this law.”

Some districts may have to take books off their shelves before teachers and students return to the classroom for the 2024-25 school year in roughly two weeks, Hickman said.

Iowa schools can start the 2024-25 year as early as Aug. 23.

In an email to parents sent Friday, Iowa City Community School District Superintendent Matt Degner said the district is working to fully understand the impact of the Appeals Court ruling and is “committed to complying with Iowa law.”

“Today’s ruling once again places the district in a state of flux,” Degner wrote. “Please know that our commitment to compliance with state law, and the possible need to once again modify certain aspects of our programming, will not deter us from our dedication to our students' well-being and to creating inclusive learning environments.”

Tom Barton of The Gazette’s Des Moines Bureau contributed.

Comments: (515) 355-1300, erin.murphy@thegazette.com