Here's a timeline of litigation to block portions of Iowa SF 496.
February 6, 2025
Hearing on the Renewed Motions Requesting an Injunction
Hearing on the renewed motion for a preliminary injunction on SF 496 at the Federal District Court Courthouse in Des Moines.
October 18, 2024
ACLU-Lambda File a Renewed Request for a Block on Portions of the Law
The ACLU and Lambda Legal file a renewed request for a new preliminary injunction, which addresses Moody v. Netchoice.
Penguin Random House and the ISEA also renew their request.
August 9, 2024
Appeals Court Vacates the Injunction; Sends Case Back to Lower Court for Reconsideration
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit sends the lawsuit back to the lower federal court in Des Moines, directing it to reconsider the law’s constitutionality in light of Moody v. Netchoice, a recent First Amendment decision by the U.S. Supreme Court
The U.S. Court of Appeals also allows the law to go into effect for now, while the case is being reconsidered by the district court.
January 12, 2024
Temporary Block is Appealed
The State of Iowa appeals the temporary injunction to the U.S. Court of Appeals.
December 29, 2023
Law Temporarily Blocked
Portions of the law are successfully blocked temporarily by a lower federal court in Des Moines while the lawsuits continue. The win prompts a handful of schools to put books they'd previously removed back on their shelves, but many districts do not.
November 30, 2023
Penguin/ISEA File a Second Lawsuit
Penguin Random House and the Iowa State Education Association also file a federal lawsuit, which asks that portions of the law be blocked.
November 28, 2023
ACLU of Iowa, Lambda File Lawsuit
The ACLU of Iowa and Lambda Legal file a federal lawsuit to block the law, describing the harms caused by the three provisions listed below.
Summer and Fall 2023
Schools Begin Removing Books
Many schools consult with their legal counsel on how to comply with the vague and confusing law. Some districts do not remove books from their shelves but at least 300 districts do.
Ultimately, thousands of books are removed from school library and classroom shelves, including many classics like "1984," "A Catcher in the Rye," and "To Kill a Mockingbird." Many of the books are by critically acclaimed authors of color, including Nobel Prize laureate Toni Morrison.
Also, many of these books contain LGBTQ+ characters and content of particular importance to LGBTQ+ students.
The Des Moines Register maintains a database of the books that have been removed.
May 2023
SF 496 Signed into Law
SF 496 signed into law by Gov. Kim Reynolds. It's a wide-ranging education bill, but three provisions are especially harmful.
- A book ban for grades K-12 for all books containing descriptions or depictions of a sex act, with the explicit exception of the Bible and other religious texts.
- A “don’t say LGBTQ” provision that forbids programs, “promotion,” “curriculum,” “instruction” and more relating to “gender identity or sexual orientation” in grades K-6, effectively prohibiting any mention of gender identity or sexual orientation in those grades, and unequally applied to LGBTQ+ identities.
- A “forced outing” provision that requires teachers, counselors and other staff to report a student to parents or guardians if the student asks to use a name or pronoun relating to gender identity, regardless of whether doing so would make the student unsafe.
The law is scheduled to go into effect in July 2023 with penalties starting January 1, 2024.
