The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Iowa has filed a lawsuit in opposition to Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds, alleging that her workplace refused to offer paperwork associated to the cancellation of a Satanic Temple of Iowa ritual that was deliberate to happen on the State Capitol.
The lawsuit, filed on behalf of the Iowa Atheists and Freethinkers (IAF), accuses Gov. Reynolds’ workplace of violating the state’s open data legislation and seeks to pressure them to launch the requested data.
In December 2024, the Satanic Temple of Iowa deliberate to carry a winter occasion within the rotunda of the Iowa State Capitol, which is historically used for non secular shows in the course of the vacation season, together with a nativity scene. In accordance with a report from the Des Moines Register on the time, “Members of the Satanic Temple of Iowa deliberate to sing Satanic carols, and maintain a Krampus costume contest and a Satanic ritual.”
The state cancelled the occasion as a result of a part of the show could be dangerous to minors.
“After cautious consideration of administrative rule and DAS coverage, I decided the totality of the occasion request to incorporate parts which might be dangerous to minors and subsequently denied the request,” Adam Steen, the director of the Iowa DAS, mentioned in a press release supplied to the Register.
Reynolds mentioned in her personal assertion, “The Iowa State Capitol Advanced is a spot that’s open to the general public, the place youngsters and households routinely go to,” she mentioned. “Due to this, the state’s occasion coverage takes into consideration conduct that might be dangerous to minors. This satanic occasion, which particularly targets youngsters, is dangerous to minors and so it was denied.”
The Satanic Temple responded to the cancellation with a Fb publish that claimed, “Our purpose was to advertise tolerance and acceptance of various non secular beliefs, with a theme of discovering a lightweight within the darkness and welcoming the darkest nights of the yr with pleasure and camaraderie.”
In accordance with a press launch from the ACLU, the IAF had filed a Freedom of Info Request underneath the Iowa Open Data Act to request “communications and paperwork within the possession of the Governor’s Workplace referring to the State of Iowa’s choice to cancel” the occasion and show.
“The Governor’s Workplace refused to supply the requested paperwork, citing ‘govt privilege,’ though what was requested was clearly non-privileged: an govt company report and paperwork referring to media preparation,” the press launch continued. “Some related supplies had been turned over, however a lot was redacted. Additionally, the Governor’s Workplace supplied lots of of pages of stories clippings that talked about the controversy however which didn’t really deal with the request.”
Thomas Story, ACLU of Iowa employees lawyer, mentioned, “This lawsuit challenges the Governor’s declare of an unprecedented ‘govt privilege’ to defy Iowa legislation. For greater than half a century, the Iowa Open Data Act has ensured that the work of the state occurs within the open. Now, the Governor’s Workplace has determined it alone will get to determine what the general public sees. The Iowa Structure doesn’t give it this authority.
“The particular paperwork withheld from the general public eye on this case are an govt company report from the Division of Administrative Companies and a number of ‘media prep’ paperwork. These will not be the type of delicate issues of nationwide safety and overseas diplomacy that courts have protected against disclosure underneath govt privilege prior to now. It might be embarrassing to the Governor’s Workplace to disclose its position in denying a non secular group equal entry to the state capitol constructing, however that doesn’t give it the precise to cover what it did and why it did it.”
The ACLU’s lawsuit was filed hours after Gov. Reynolds’ workplace sued the Des Moines Register over the newspaper’s public data requests.
The governor’s workplace had not publicly responded to the ACLU lawsuit on the time of publication.
