American Booksellers for Free Expression (ABFE) was encouraged to learn that US District Judge Stephen Locher has preliminarily enjoined parts of Iowa Senate File 496, most notably the book-banning elements, preventing them from going into effect on January 1. In a strongly worded order, Judge Locher wrote: “The law is 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.” We congratulate the plaintiffs in the two cases brought against the law — including Penguin Random House, the ACLU of Iowa, and Iowa families — and sincerely hope future rulings will follow Judge Locher’s lead in seeing the bill for what it is: a sweeping act of censorship. |
