A federal judge has ordered Iowa to let the Satanic Temple hold a holiday event in the state Capitol, ruling the state likely broke free speech rules when it kept saying no.
Story Highlights
- Chief U.S. District Judge Stephanie Rose gave Iowa seven days to approve the group’s request for a one-day event on Saturday, December 12.
- The state had turned the group down three years in a row, saying Krampus costumes and props could harm children.
- The judge found the group is likely to win its free speech claim, because other holiday displays, including nativity scenes, were allowed.
- Attorney General Brenna Bird’s office says Iowa will appeal.
- The group’s Iowa chapter planned caroling, coloring pages for children, ornament making and a costume contest featuring Krampus, a horned monster from European folklore who punishes naughty children at Christmas.
What The Judge Ordered And Why
On Monday, November 2, Chief U.S. District Judge Stephanie Rose granted a preliminary injunction, a court order that takes effect while a lawsuit is still being decided. It directs Mark Campbell, who leads the Iowa Department of Administrative Services, the agency that runs the Capitol buildings, to approve the Satanic Temple’s application within seven days. The judge found the group is likely to win its claim that Iowa violated its free speech rights. The state can apply the same security, insurance and deposit rules it uses for other indoor events, but it may not limit the event because of its message.
The office of Attorney General Brenna Bird, Iowa’s top lawyer, says the state will appeal. No appeals court ruling on the order had been reported as of Tuesday, November 3.
Why Iowa Kept Saying No
The Satanic Temple describes itself as a non-theistic religious group, meaning it does not believe in a god or in Satan. It says it promotes secularism, the idea that government should stay out of religion. Its Iowa chapter planned caroling, coloring pages for children, ornament making and a costume contest featuring Krampus, a horned monster from European folklore who punishes naughty children at Christmas.
In 2024, then-director Adam Steen denied the request under a Capitol rule that bans displays “harmful to minors.” He pointed to costumes with sticks that he said could be used as weapons on children. The department denied the request again in 2025 and in September 2026 with the same two-sentence email. Campbell testified that “harm” is “a big word” that can include scaring a child.
What The Court Found
Judge Rose wrote that the state cannot block speech only to shield children from ideas officials find unsuitable. She found that excluding Krampus because officials find him frightening, while allowing other holiday displays, likely targets one view of the holiday. Quoting an earlier Supreme Court case, she noted that “giving offense is a viewpoint.” Courts call this viewpoint discrimination: shutting out a speaker because of what he says, which the Constitution forbids in a space the government opens to the public.
The judge also said the sticks did not justify canceling the whole event. The state has no rule against such props, never asked the group to leave them home, and already screens every visitor at the Capitol door. Props will go through that same screening. The court did not find that Campbell personally acted out of hostility toward the group’s beliefs.
Other Displays In The Same Rotunda
The Capitol has hosted holiday displays from many groups, including Christmas trees, nativity scenes and menorahs. The Satanic Temple itself had a display approved in 2023, a statue of a goat-headed figure called Baphomet. A Mississippi man, Michael Cassidy, destroyed that statue and later pleaded guilty to criminal mischief.
That history is why the ruling cuts both ways for people of faith. The rule that makes the state treat the Satanic Temple the same as other groups is the same rule that protects a church’s nativity scene from being pulled by officials who dislike it.
What Comes Next
Campbell must approve the application within seven days of the order and file a notice within ten days listing any conditions he sets. The ruling covers only the free speech claim. The group’s other claims, and its request for damages over the past denials, are still before the court. Iowa can ask the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, the federal appeals court that covers Iowa, to reverse the order or put it on hold before December 12.
Sources:
courthousenews.com, newser.com, kcrg.com, cbs2iowa.com
