On Monday, an appeals court vacated two decisions that blocked portions of Iowa’s Senate File 496 law from being enforced. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit remanded the cases back to the lower court thus permitting the laws that restrict teachers from talking about LGBTQ+ topics with students in kindergarten through the sixth grade as well as some book bans in libraries and classrooms to be enforced.
The decision came in Iowa Safe Schools v. Kim Reynolds, filed by the ACLU on behalf of LGBTQ+ allies in 2023, that requires school officials to report to parents if their child requests to use a different name or pronouns and also bans books with depictions of sex for students through sixth grade. The decision also impacted Penguin Random House v. Robbins, whose plaintiffs include the Big Five publishers and the Authors Guild, which was filed in late 2023. Since both cases were filed, different courts have blocked portions of the laws from being enacted, while allowing other sections to be enforced.
In Monday’s decision, the appeals court ruled that district court Stephen Locher “erred” when he decided that the law could not be enforced because certain terms were too broad. In its decision, the appeals court determined that the law “provides adequate notice of what conduct it governs and does not authorize or encourage arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement. Plaintiffs have not shown a likelihood of success on the merits on their void-for-vagueness challenge.”
While that ruling was made in the Iowa Safe Schools v. Kim Reynolds case, the court said based on its reasoning, it was also vacating the district court’s entry of a preliminary injunction in PRH’s case that highlighted the law’s library restrictions.
Both laws on now back with the district court for further review.
“While we’re disappointed that the injunction is no longer in place, we are actively evaluating next steps,” said Dan Novack VP and association general counsel at Penguin Random House speaking for the plaintiffs in the publishers and authors case. “The fight continues, and we stand with authors, educators, librarians, and students to protect access to books and the freedom to read.”
