Iowa attorney general appeals court ruling halting Iowa law on school books

Iowa Republican Attorney General Brenna Bird on Friday filed notice of appeal of a federal district court’s decision to halt implementation of a law signed last year that bans books with descriptions or visual depictions of a list of sex acts from school libraries.

“When we send our kids to school, we trust that their innocence will be protected,” Bird said in a statement. “ … Iowa’s law is clear; sexually explicit books and materials have no place in our elementary school classrooms or libraries.

“As a mom, I share parents’ concerns and remain committed to keeping our schools a safe place for kids to learn and grow. With this appeal, we will continue the fight to protect Iowa families and to uphold Iowa’s law in court.”

The law was challenged by the ACLU of Iowa, the publishing company Penguin Random House Publishing, 16 LGBTQ students in Iowa, the LGBTQ advocacy organization Iowa Safe Schools and the Iowa State Education Association teachers union on the grounds that it violates their First Amendment rights to free speech.

The lawsuit argues books being removed from schools under the “age-appropriate” standard are not pornography and fail to meet the definition of obscenity as determined by the U.S. Supreme Court.

The suit argues the law prohibits books with even a brief description of a sex act for students of all ages without any evaluation of the book as a whole or its literary, artistic, political or scientific value.

In his order blocking the law until litigation is settled, U.S. District Court Judge Stephen Locher called the law “wildly overbroad."

“The sweeping restrictions in Senate File 496 are unlikely to satisfy the First Amendment under any standard of scrutiny and thus may not be enforced while the case is pending,” Locher wrote in the ruling.

The judge noted the law has resulted in removal of hundreds of books, including, among others, non-fiction history books, classic works of fiction, Pulitzer Prize winning contemporary novels and even books designed to help students avoid being victimized by sexual assault.

The law also that prohibits the teaching of gender identity and sexual orientation through sixth grade. Locher wrote the law defines those terms in generic terms, meaning it would apply to the teaching of all gender identity and sexual orientation, not just when it pertains to LGBTQ individuals.

“The statute is therefore content-neutral but so wildly overbroad that every school district and elementary school teacher in the State has likely been violating it since the day the school year started,” he wrote.

Pat Grassley response

Iowa House Speaker Pat Grassley, R-New Hartford, said this week House Republicans may pass additional legislation to clarify or expand on the new law.

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“I can't wrap my head around how this issue of sexually explicit material and schools got so convoluted,” Grassely said Monday during his opening day speech laying out House Republicans’ priorities for the 2024 legislative session.

“I'm still shocked that we actually have people willing to fight this hard to keep pornographic material in our schools,” Grassley said. “What is the educational value of oral sex scenes in school library books? I'm completely confused and disturbed by this being the case.

“Last session, we passed a simple solution to protect Iowa's students from inappropriate material. It should have been an easy policy for schools to implement, but instead, some chose to politicize this issue. And if we need to pass additional legislation this session, we will.”

Administrative rules

Opponents of the law also say the proposed administrative rules do not go far enough in clarifying the intent of the legislation and would lead to far too many books being removed from school library shelves.

The rules clarify that a “reference or mention of a sex act in a way that does not describe or visually depict” the act is not prohibited from school libraries.

The rules also apply only to a library that a school has direct control over, and schools with libraries that serve multiple grades must ensure that students have access only to material appropriate for their grades.

On the portion of the law prohibiting instruction on gender and sexual orientation, the department stipulated that a “neutral statement regarding sexual orientation or gender identity” does not violate the rules.

The rules state a school board would receive a written warning on the first violation, and on the second violation, the superintendent and employees of the school could receive disciplinary action.

Erin Murphy and Caleb McCullough of The Gazette-Lee Des Moines Bureau contributed to this report.

Comments: (319) 398-8499; tom.barton@thegazette.com