Iowa law banning school library books depicting sexual acts on hold again after judge's ruling
Iowa cannot, for now, continue to enforce part of its book ban law, a federal judge said Tuesday, giving major publishers that sued the state the second temporary reprieve they requested.
The new decision from U.S. District Judge Stephen Locher again temporarily blocked the part of the law that prohibits school libraries and classrooms from carrying books that depict sex acts. The law's section that bans books depicting sex acts from school libraries includes an exception for religious texts, like the Christian Bible.
The law was first approved by Iowa's Republican-led Legislature and GOP Gov. Kim Reynolds in 2023, but key parts, including the book ban, were temporarily blocked by Locher before they became enforceable. That decision was overturned in August by the U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, meaning the law has been enforceable during the current school year.
The appellate court told the lower court that it failed to apply the correct analysis in determining whether to temporarily block the law. In Locher's decision Tuesday, he stated that the unconstitutional applications of the book restrictions "far exceed" the constitutional applications "under both legal standards the Court believes are applicable."
Expecting an appeal, Locher also included an alternative standard where the restrictions could be considered constitutional but added he does not believe it should be applied in this case.
Major publishers have also sued Florida's Department of Education in 2024 for pulling books from school shelves. Between July 2021 and December 2023, Florida had 3,135 book bans recorded across 11 districts – the highest in the nation, according to a report released by Pen America last April.
A 2023 law bans books that depict or describe "sexual conduct" or are "inappropriate for the grade level and age group for which the material is used."
