Publishers Face 8th Circuit Doubts in School Book-Removal Appeal

A coalition of book publishers and authors challenging Iowa’s school book-removal law was greeted with skepticism Tuesday from a federal appellate panel reviewing a lower court’s preliminary injunction blocking enforcement of the law.

The 2023-passed law, SF 496, would ban books for students in kindergarten through 12th grade if the works described sex acts and would disallow materials for K-6 students relating to sexual orientation or gender identity.

The book publishers’ attorney Frederick J. Sperling told the US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit in oral argument that the law impermissibly infringed on the authority of school officials and ...