Appeals court sends Iowa's book ban injunction back to lower court

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eight Circuit vacated a preliminary injunction that stopped an Iowa law banning sexually explicit books in school libraries on Friday.

A federal judge halted enforcement of the ban in December. It's part of Senate File 496, passed by the Iowa Legislature in 2023, which has separate challenges from the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa and publisher Penguin Random House. The court also blocked a provision that prohibits the discussion of gender or sexuality in Iowa's classrooms.

The appeals court said the preliminary injunction was based on a flawed analysis of the law. The 11-page ruling referred to a case brought by Netchoice challenging state regulation of social media websites.

"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 PRH Plaintiffs that have been swept up in the restrictions. But for facial challenges, 'the question . . . is whether a law’s unconstitutional applications are substantial compared to its constitutional ones,'" the court said in its ruling. "The district court did not perform the necessary inquiry set forth in NetChoice."

The court said the plaintiffs can pursue relief "in the manner required in the NetChoice case and said they have a right "to pursue their First Amendment claim as to the Library Program."

Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird called the ruling a victory.

“We went to court to defend Iowa’s schoolchildren 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.”

Lambda Legal, the ACLU of Iowa, and the law firm of Jenner and Block said they were deeply frustrated and disappointed but would ask the district court to block the law again.

"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" they said in a statement. "We are, however, encouraged by the Eighth 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 court also rejected the State’s claim that banning books in libraries is a form of protected government speech."

The case is now back in the hands of the district court.