Judge forces Iowa to let Satanic Temple hold holiday event in state Capitol

The state thrice denied the Satanic Temple’s application for a family friendly holiday event featuring satanic carols, arts and crafts and a Krampus costume contest, arguing it would be harmful to minors.(CN) — An Iowa federal judge on Monday ordered state officials to approve the Satanic Temple’s application to host a December holiday celebration in the state Capitol rotunda without conditions or restrictions.“Congregants of the Satanic Temple have every right to live their authentic religious identity in public and are entitled to the same dignity and the same access to public spaces as members of more familiar traditions,” said temple attorney Matt Kezhaya in a press release.The Satanic Temple has applied to host its holiday celebration in the Iowa Capitol for the past three years and been denied each time despite other religious organizations being approved.This year, the Iowa Department of Administrative Services reasoned that the event’s costume contest — featuring Krampus, a figure from European folklore — would harm children.The ACLU and the temple together filed suit in August against the department in the Southern District of Iowa asserting violations of free speech, exercise and equal protection.On Monday, Chief U.S. District Judge Stephanie Rose granted a preliminary injunction ordering department head Mark Campbell to approve the Satanic Temple’s application without restrictions.To host an event at the Capitol building, the applicant must sign a “memorandum of understanding” that is then countersigned by the department. Only then is the event approved. The memo bars displays that are harmful to minors, including obscene materials and gratuitous violence, defined using elements of obscenity law: material that the average person may find offensive or lacking in serious literary, scientific, political or artistic value.Though Campbell testified at an evidentiary hearing in early October that he denied the application because the Krampus costume contest would be harmful to children, he conceded he did no research on Krampus.His decision was based on his own understanding of Krampus as a figure who harms children and takes them to hell, which he heard as a child, according to Monday’s decision.Former department Director Adam Steen, who denied the temple’s application in 2024, made similar claims in his own testimony, arguing the stick Krampus holds could be used to strike children whether they were real or props.Neither of these rationalizations are likely to succeed, according to Rose.Whether a costume may frighten a child is not a permissible basis for excluding speech, the Barack Obama appointee reasoned, and the entire event cannot be denied simply because someone might carry a stick.Campbell’s view of the Krampus character raised questions for the court regarding viewpoint discrimination, since the Capitol hosts holiday displays by other religious groups including Christmas trees, nativity scenes and menorahs.“Excluding Krampus costumes because they might frighten children, while admitting the season’s celebratory displays, targets a perspective on the holiday rather than the holiday itself,” Rose said.The department’s concern about Krampus’ stick being used as a weapon would be persuading if the memo included a rule against sticks, or if the department had a history of restricting sticks as possible weapons in the Capitol.No such evidence exists, and the department could have simply asked the temple to forgo the stick prop, but instead denied the event in entirety. The decision restricted more “more expression than its stated concern could justify,” according to Rose.The court noted that Steen had previously denied an application to display an oversized contraceptive, which he found “grotesque” and a drag show, which he likewise considered harmful to children, suggesting a pattern.“His concern with the contraceptive display was not that anyone would use it to strike a child, but that he did not want children to see it,” Rose said.The event will include caroling, coloring pages, make-and-take ornaments, religious observance and the costume competition.Going forward, the temple will pursue a declaration that state officials violated its free speech, free exercise of religion and equal protection rights under the First and 14th Amendments and the Iowa Civil Rights Act.“Constitutional protections do not diminish when Satanists exercise them, and we intend to hold the state of Iowa to its obligation to treat our members equally under the law,” the temple said in a press release.Subscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads