Association of American Publishers comments on 8th Circuit decision in Iowa book banning case; plaintiffs' standing recognized, court finds book banning not protected by Government Speech Doctrine

“While we are disappointed that the motion for preliminary injunction will have to be reheard, we are pleased that the appeals court has recognized the plaintiffs’ standing in this case, and that the court agreed with the position laid out in our April 19, 2024 amicus brief that book banning in school libraries is not protected by the Government Speech Doctrine. We look forward to the renewal of the motion in the district court.”

On April 19, 2024, the Association of American Publishers, joined by the American Booksellers for Free Expression, Authors Guild, Inc., Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, Educational Book and Media Association, Freedom to Learn Advocates, Half Price Books, Records, Magazines, Inc., Independent Book Publishers Association, National Press Photographers Association, National Writers Union and Sisters in Crime, filed an amicus brief in Iowa in support of the plaintiffs in two lawsuits, filed in November 2023, challenging provisions of SF 496, a 2023 law that violates constitutional standards by censoring books for students in a vague and overbroad fashion.

The lawsuits, Penguin Random House, LLC. v. Robbins and GLBT Youth in IA Schools, Etc. v. Reynolds, were filed in November 2023 by plaintiff groups that include publishers, renowned authors, educators, and students. The original filing by Penguin Random House has since been joined by Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins Publishers, Macmillan Publishers, Simon & Schuster and Sourcebooks. Among other problems, the law prohibits any K-12 public school in Iowa from maintaining a “library program” containing “any material with descriptions or visual depictions” of a “sex act” no matter how innocuous or brief, and with no variation for the age of the minor or consideration of the value of the work as a whole. In practice, hundreds of books have been pulled from library shelves as a result, including timeless classics by authors such as James Joyce, William Faulkner, Aldous Huxley, and Richard Wright, and award-winning books by contemporary authors such as Toni Morrison, Malinda Lo, Sapphire, John Green, Jodi Picoult, Laurie Halse Anderson, and Maya Angelou.

AAP’s April 19, 2024 amicus brief can be found here.

The 8th Circuit’s decision can be found here.