History of Religious Freedom Cases

The ACLU of Iowa supports the First Amendment right to freely exercise religious beliefs without government restraint and to make sure the government does not endorse religion.

When Gov. Reynold's issued a formal proclamation for Iowans to "unite in prayer" to Jesus during the pandemic, we spoke out about a government official endorsing Christianity.

The ACLU of Iowa joined with other ACLU affiliates in the Midwest to file a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit, demanding government documents about the on-the-ground implementation in Chicago's O'Hare airport of then-President Trump’s Muslim bans.

After yet another report of a school district that held a student assembly with overtly religious messages, including homophobic content, we sent out an advisory to school officials on how to avoid such assemblies and to keep government-run schools free of religious proselytizing.

We’ve lobbied against misnamed “religious freedom” bills that would essentially allow public businesses and facilities to discriminate against anyone—people of color, gay people, unmarried couples—because their religion supports it.

Former Gov. Branstad issued a formal proclamation instructing Iowans to pray and read their Bibles as the one true word. That was a clear violation of the separation of church and state, with our state's top official endorsing a particular religion. We spoke out against his action.

In 2002, we successfully represented two Dunlap, Iowa, high school students who did not believe in God but were required to sing The Lord's Prayer. It was part of a long history of our representing Iowa students who opposed prayers at graduation and other official school events. Find out more.

We defended the First Amendment Rights of two Des Moines High school students who were wearing anti-abortion T-shirts at their school. Find out more.