A judge blocked an Iowa law banning books containing explicit sexual content from school libraries.
U.S. District Judge Stephen Locher argued in the ruling that “Senate File 496 makes no attempt to evaluate a book’s literary, political, artistic, or scientific value before requiring the book’s removal from a school library and thus comes nowhere close to applying the ‘obscenity’ standard that is typically used to determine the constitutionality of statewide book restrictions.”
The result is the forced removal of books from school libraries that are not pornographic or obscene,” the judge claimed.
Following the ruling, Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird said in a statement, “As a mom, I know how important it is to keep schools a safe place for kids to learn and grow.”
“Parents shouldn’t have to worry about what materials their kids have access to when they’re not around,” she said. “This common sense law makes certain that the books kids have access to in school classrooms and libraries are age-appropriate. I’m going to keep on fighting to uphold our law that protects schoolchildren and parental rights.”
Locher issued a preliminary injunction against the law in 2023, saying it was “incredibly broad and has resulted in the removal of hundreds of books from school libraries, including, among others, nonfiction history books, classic works of fiction, Pulitzer Prize-winning contemporary novels, books that regularly appear on Advanced Placement exams, and even books designed to help students avoid being victimized by sexual assault.” He added at the time that the “court has been unable to locate a single case upholding the constitutionality of a school library restriction even remotely similar.”
