The Iowa State Education Association, Penguin Random House and four bestselling authors (Laurie Halse Anderson, John Green, Malinda Lo and Jodi Picoult), filed a lawsuit on Thursday, November 30th. They are suing the state of Iowa as a result of the newly implemented education law that initially banned books depicting explicit acts. Schools across Iowa are forced to remove books within their libraries and classrooms in response to the law. The authors are seeking to keep the books that contain these depictions in K-12 schools and want that portion of the law declared unconstitutional for violating the 1st and 14th Amendments of the Constitution.
“We know that not every book we publish will be for every reader, but we must protect the right for all Americans, including students, parents, caregivers, teachers, and librarians, to have equitable access to books and to continue to decide what they read,” says Penguin Random House CEO Nihar Malaviya. This is the second lawsuit filed this week against the education law, which was signed by Governor Kim Reynolds earlier this year. The new law also prevents teaching about sexual orientation and students’ gender identities in kindergarten through sixth grade. Schools are now required to reach out and inform parents if a student asks to use different pronouns on school property. Reynolds says that the law gives parents more control over their children. She also goes on to say that beginning January 1st, teachers who fail to remove these books will face penalties, including written reprimands and possible license suspension.
“It’s too big of a blanket being placed over these banned books,” Mrs. Seidl says after having to remove all books that portray any sexual content in our school’s library. She says that she’s very intrigued to see how this law pans out after the lawsuit by these four very big authors. She also goes on to say how this law goes beyond the state of Iowa and that people all over the country will be affected by this. “This law was written very hastily,” says Seidl. She explains how the state needs to hear what these authors are saying in the lawsuit and their writing. She’s very pleased that they are ready to stand for the 1st amendment and people’s freedom of speech.
