Legislators on an Iowa Senate subcommittee advanced a bill Tuesday that would remove exemptions to the state’s obscenity laws for libraries and schools, a move opponents say could open libraries up to lawsuits and would be logistically difficult for small libraries to protect against.
In Iowa Code, materials are obscene if they describe or show things like genitals or sex acts, violate "contemporary community standards" regarding what an average person finds is suitable for minors, is “patently offensive” and lacks "serious literary, scientific, political or artistic value."
Iowa law follows the Miller Test, which is the standard the Supreme Court established in 1973 to determine whether material is obscene or not.
The current exemption says the state’s obscenity laws don’t prohibit schools, public libraries or other educational programs from using appropriate material for educational purposes. The exemption also says the state’s obscenity laws don’t prohibit minors from attending exhibits or art displays, and doesn’t prohibit the use of any materials in a public library.
Leslie Noble, a member of the government affairs committee from the Iowa Library Association, called the bill “a solution in search of a problem” and said libraries are not collecting material which are legally determined to be obscene.
“Libraries exist to support free inquiry, not to dictate what individuals or families can read,” Noble said. “Iowa law already provides a clear process for addressing concerns about materials and Senate File 235 removes protections for those public workers who are required to meet the varied information needs of Iowa citizens.”
Supporters of the bill say removing the exemption will protect children from accessing material in libraries that could be deemed obscene under Iowa’s code.
The Senate bill would give legal grounds for parents, guardians or former minors to sue someone who knowingly exposed a minor to obscene materials.
Evelyn Nikkel, a lobbyist with PELLA PAC, claimed the exemptions have been used to “to stack our libraries with obscenities intentionally aimed at desensitizing our vulnerable young people and making deviant behavior seem normal.”
According to its website, PELLA PAC “lobbies legislators to pass laws to protect children from propaganda promoted by Marxist and atheist bureaucracies.”
“Businesses can't merchandise this stuff,” Nikkel said. “Repeal this loophole and protect our vulnerable, curious, immature minors the way that we protect them all the way across Iowa.”
Keenan Crow, with the LGBTQ advocacy organization One Iowa, said when paired with a bill about obscene performances advancing in the Senate, removing obscenity exemptions for libraries and schools would create a “massive liability risk” for public institutions and open them up to SLAPP lawsuits, or strategic lawsuits against public participation.
The Senate bill would give legal grounds for parents, guardians or former minors to sue someone who knowingly exposed a minor to obscene materials.
Crow said the combination of laws could lead to “frivolous lawsuits [that] will happen at taxpayer expense for no other reason than to intimidate our librarians and educators” and could drive up insurance costs for libraries.
Supporters of the bill also raised concerns about taxpayer money going towards purchasing materials for libraries that could be deemed obscene. Jeff Pitts, with the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition, encouraged lawmakers to “close the loophole.”
“Public decency should be a given in taxpayer-funded, publicly paid-for spaces like public libraries,” said Pitts. “Indecency should be completely off limits within Iowa's accredited schools, and it should absolutely be illegal for custodians of public spaces to allow children easy access to lewd content.”
“Indecency should be completely off limits within Iowa's accredited schools, and it should absolutely be illegal for custodians of public spaces to allow children easy access to lewd content.”Jeff Pitts with the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition
Michele Patrick, director of the Indianola Public Library, urged lawmakers to trust parents to make decisions with their children. Patrick said if exemptions are removed, monitoring which materials minors pick up could be logistically difficult for librarians in small libraries where material could all be located in one room.
“If my responsibility as the director is to shield my library from liability lawsuits, even if I could figure it out and took every book that might offend someone and put it in the adult section, I'm really short on staff,” Patrick said.
Amber Williams represented Inspired Life and said public institutions should not override a parent’s right and responsibility to guide their children’s development.
“We're hearing about the literary and educational value, but let's be clear, there is nothing educational about graphic novels depicting explicit sexual acts and nothing literary about exposing children to pornography under the guise of education,” Williams said.
The House advanced its own version of the bill last week through the education committee.
The Senate bill will be heard next by the Senate Education Committee.
