Washington, DC — Book bans are the subject of a hearing before the US Senate Judiciary Committee this Tuesday morning and Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says he sees it all as being about parental rights.
The Iowa legislature passed a bill this past session that became law which requires Iowa schools to remove most books that depict sex acts from classrooms and school libraries. Grassley refused to offer an opinion on the state law.
Grassley, the ranking Republican on the committee, says the hearing is called: “Book Bans: Examining How Censorship Limits Liberty and Literature.”
The new state law has left some school administrators uncertain how to proceed on certain books. Some school boards have started issuing lists of books they’re pulling from shelves, while others have requested instruction from state education leaders. Grassley says the law should be clear about what books are inappropriate for certain ages.
The new state law will take effect in January. Some nationally-known authors have criticized Iowa’s legislature for the law as their books are among those being banned in some schools.
