Locher wrote that Iowa’s law — Senate File 496 enacted in 2023 — “makes no attempt to evaluate a book’s literary, political, artistic, or scientific value before requiring the book’s removal from a ...

The law was first approved by Iowa's Republican-led Legislature and GOP Gov. Kim Reynolds in 2023, but key parts, including the book ban, were temporarily blocked by a federal judge before they ...

A version of this article appears in print on March 27, 2025, Section A, Page 21 of the New York edition with the headline: Judge Blocks Iowa Law Restricting Sexually Explicit School Books.

The book ban was part of a broader “Don’t Say Gay” law passed in Iowa, Senate File 496. Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) signed S.F. 496 into law in May 2023.

A federal judge on Tuesday put a hold on an Iowa law that says schools cannot carry books that depict sex acts. District Judge Stephen Locher placed a temporary block on the ban, saying there were ...

The new decision from U.S. District Judge Stephen Locher again temporarily blocked the part of the law that prohibits school libraries and classrooms from carrying books that depict sex acts. The ...

Iowa cannot, for now, continue to enforce part of its book ban law, a federal judge said Tuesday, giving major publishers that sued the state the second temporary reprieve they requested. The new ...