In a story near and dear to my heart as a school librarian directly affected by said law, I am pleased to report that federal judge Stephen Locher has blocked major portions of Iowa’s book banning law that was passed earlier this year and was scheduled to go into effect in a couple of days with the start of the new year.
Judge Stephen Locher said in his ruling released late Friday afternoon that the court was unable to find another school library book restriction “even remotely similar to Senate File 496.” Where lawmakers should use a scalpel, he said, SF 496 is a “bulldozer” that has pulled books out of schools that are widely regarded as important works.
“The underlying message is that there is no redeeming value to any such book even if it is a work of history, self-help guide, award-winning novel, or other piece of serious literature,” Locher wrote. “In effect, the Legislature has imposed a puritanical ‘pall of orthodoxy’ over school libraries.”
Locher said the law’s section on gender identity and sexual orientation in grades K-6 was written so broadly that recognizing any relationship, whether gay or straight, would likely violate the law even if that is not what lawmakers intended.
The one part of the law still left standing, unfortunately, is the law’s requirement that school must report to parents whether their child has requested the use of a different name or pronouns.
The injunction against the law will remain in effect as lawsuits challenging the law work their way through the courts.
Gov. Kim “The Kim Reaper” Reynolds has, of course, expressed dismay that the federal courts have dared to land on the side of the First Amendment and common sense. Said Gov. Reynolds in a released statement, ““The fact that we’re even arguing these issues is ridiculous.”
Yes, Gov. Reynolds, it most certainly is.