Bill Would Charge Teachers, Administrators with Serious Misdemeanor for 鈥極bscene鈥� Content
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Iowa teachers or school administrators who knowingly provide 鈥渙bscene material or hard-core pornography鈥� to students would be guilty of a serious misdemeanor under
Chapman, R-Adel, took up the issue of controversial books in the fall, when he advocated for criminal penalties at school board meetings around the Des Moines metro.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know why the school thinks that they鈥檙e above the law,鈥� Chapman said, . 鈥淏ut I intend to do something about it.鈥�
Chapman initially planned legislation to make it a felony offense for a teacher to give obscene material to a student. Iowa鈥檚 lowest felony penalty is at least two years in state prison.
Instead, the bill released on Feb. 3 would classify it as a serious misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in jail and a fine of up to $1,875.
To prevent students from accessing inappropriate content, schools would be required to designate an administrator to ensure nothing obscene is available in the school鈥檚 library.
The bill would also introduce a definition of 鈥渉ard-core pornography鈥� into Iowa Code. That would include 鈥減atently offensive representations of oral, anal, or vaginal intercourse鈥� or 鈥減atently offensive representations of masturbation, excretory functions, or bestiality.鈥� The material must also lack artistic, literary, scientific or political value.
It鈥檚 unclear how much support Chapman鈥檚 bill will have within the Republican caucus.
Senate Majority Leader Jack Whitver was
鈥淐harging anyone with felonies for these types of things, I don鈥檛 think is a good idea,鈥� Whitver said.
The Senate Education Committee has already advanced a a proposal to require schools to report a student鈥檚 curriculum and the books and other material available to them. It is similar to transparency provisions in Gov. Kim Reynolds鈥� education bill, which passed through a Senate subcommittee on Feb. 2.
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