On behalf of The Satanic Temple, the ACLU of Iowa filed a federal lawsuit Thursday alleging the state has blocked the temple’s rights to free speech, nondiscrimination and religious exercise.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa, stems from the state’s repeated refusal to grant permission for the group to stage what the ACLU of Iowa calls “a family-friendly winter holiday event” in the Iowa Capitol rotunda in the manner of other religious and civic groups.
Named as defendants are the director of the Iowa Department of Administrative Services, Mark Campbell; the department’s former director, Adam Steen; and the department itself.
The lawsuit asks the court to declare that state officials’ denials have violated The Satanic Temple’s constitutional rights under the First and 14th Amendments as well as their rights under the Iowa Civil Rights Act and Iowa Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
It seeks a court order requiring the Iowa Department of Administrative Services to specifically to allow The Satanic Temple to host a holiday event at the Capitol this December, as well as unspecified damages for alleged past violations.
The State of Iowa has yet to file a response to the lawsuit.
In December 2023, The Satanic Temple was permitted to hold a holiday display in the rotunda, alongside other holiday displays such as a Christian nativity scene. Beginning in 2024 and continuing through 2026, the state denied The Satanic Temple’s applications, the lawsuit alleges.
Matt Kezhaya, general counsel for The Satanic Temple, said in a press release Thursday that “the Constitution protects unpopular viewpoints from political power, not the other way around… The First Amendment does not allow government officials to pick and choose which religions may participate in public life.”
Shefali Aurora, ACLU of Iowa staff attorney, said that “when the state makes the public space in the Iowa Capitol Rotunda available for religious holiday events — for example, a Christmas or Hanukkah event — it cannot then deny the same right to other religious groups it disfavors.”
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