Major book publisher Penguin Random House was joined by four authors in filing a federal lawsuit Thursday to block Iowa’s ban on books in schools that involve subjects like sexual orientation—the latest effort against policies targeting books in classrooms and school libraries.
Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds signed a bill in May targeting books in classrooms and school libraries ... [+]
The lawsuit was filed in federal district court in the Southern District of Iowa, and says Iowa’s book ban, which was passed in April and partially enacted this school year, violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments because it is “vague” and could target a wide range of books.
Iowa’s book ban targets books that describe or depict sex acts, and bans books that discuss gender identity or sexual orientation for students in kindergarten through sixth grade.
Jodie Picoult and John Green are among the authors joining Penguin Random House in the lawsuit—as well as a high school senior student, educators, and the Iowa State Education Association—which lists the president of the Iowa State Board of Education, the director of the Iowa State Department of Education, the chair of the Iowa State Board of Educational Examiners and two school district superintendents as defendants.
The lawsuit says the plaintiffs are seeking an order to stop Iowa from implementing penalties for classrooms and school libraries carrying the banned books and to stop Iowa schools from removing the books.
“The Handmaid’s Tale” by Margaret Atwood and “Beloved” by Toni Morrison are among the books that have been removed in Iowa school districts, according to a database from the Des Moines Register.
Two of the defendants declined to comment and others did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Iowa lawmakers passed an education bill in April banning certain books. The state Senate voted 34-16 on the bill, and the state House passed the bill in a 57-38 vote, according to the Des Moines Register. “Parents are the ultimate decisionmakers for their children,” Republican Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds told the Des Moines Register. “This legislation defines parents’ rights in law, requires transparency, and sets boundaries to protect Iowa’s children from woke indoctrination.” On Tuesday, the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa and Lambda Legal said they filed a federal lawsuit against Iowa for the book ban, asserting the law “seeks to silence LGBTQ+ students, erase any recognition of LGBTQ+ people from public schools, and bans books with sexual or LGBTQ+ content,” the Associated Press reported.
3,362. That’s how many book bans PEN America has recorded in U.S. public school classrooms and libraries from July 1, 2022 to June 31 this year.
The lawsuit is the first time Penguin Random House is directly suing a state over educational policies related to books in school libraries and classrooms, the Wall Street Journal reported. In May, the book publisher joined PEN America and others in a federal suit in Florida against the Escambia County School District and the county school board over removing and restricting books in public school libraries, according to the Wall Street Journal.
LGBTQ+ rights group sues over Iowa law banning school library books, gender identity discussion (Associated Press)