A federal judge will write the next chapter for Iowa’s book ban law

A federal judge plans to decide by Jan. 1 whether to block enforcement of a new education law that bans books containing sexual acts from school libraries and prohibits instruction related to sexual orientation and gender identity in K-6 classrooms. The hearing in a Des Moines courtroom Friday combined arguments in two separate lawsuits challenging SF 496 as unconstitutional. One legal challenge, from Iowa Safe Schools and a group of LGBTQ students, claims the law has eroded the inclusive school environments of students who are gay or transgender, and has...