A federal judge ordered Iowa to allow The Satanic Temple to hold a holiday event featuring Satanic carols, ornament making and a Krampus costume contest in the State Capitol rotunda. Photo: Thesavagenorwegian, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
In the past week, the Trump administration has come under attack for a State Department video narrated by Secretary of State Marco Rubio celebrating America’s Christian heritage, and an atheist group denounced President Trump’s All Saints’ Day message honoring Catholic saints. Meanwhile, a federal judge sided with The Satanic Temple on free speech grounds and ordered Iowa to open its state Capitol to the group’s holiday event.
Chief U.S. District Judge Stephanie M. Rose of the Southern District of Iowa ordered the state on Nov. 2 to allow The Satanic Temple to hold a holiday event in the Capitol rotunda on Dec. 12, after state officials denied the group’s applications three years in a row. Rose granted a preliminary injunction against Mark Campbell, director of the Iowa Department of Administrative Services. President Barack Obama nominated Rose in February 2012, and the Senate confirmed her that September.
The Satanic Temple (TST), a group based in Salem, Massachusetts, describes the gathering as “a family-friendly holiday event in the Capitol Rotunda” in its lawsuit announcement. According to local station WOI, the program includes “Satanic holiday carols, ornament making and a Krampus costume contest.” Krampus is a horned figure from Alpine folklore who traditionally punishes misbehaving children during the Christmas season. The ACLU of Iowa represents TST and its Iowa congregation leader, identified in the filing as “Mortimer Adramelech, Minister of Satan.”
The state denied applications for the event in 2024, 2025, and 2026. According to the order, then-director Adam Steen cited “the anticipation of costumes with sticks used as weapons on children” when denying the 2024 application. Campbell denied the 2025 and 2026 applications, saying they were the same as the 2024 submission and that he agreed with Steen’s decision. In court, the state argued that the sticks were “traditionally used to beat children” and were “distressing for children.”
The order states that Gov. Kim Reynolds’ office was involved in the 2024 denial. On Dec. 9, 2024, an official in the governor’s office asked Steen to bring over the images TST had submitted. The two offices then prepared a joint “Legally Appropriate Statement,” which Steen issued the next day. The draft said the event “specifically targets children” and “is harmful to minors and so it was denied.”
Rose ruled that TST is likely to succeed on its free speech claim, writing that excluding the costumes “targets a perspective on the holiday rather than the holiday itself” and that “the Department excluded far more expression than its stated concern could justify.” According to the Associated Press, she also wrote that concern that Krampus may frighten children is “not a permissible basis for excluding speech.” The order states that the court made no finding of personal hostility by Campbell.
The injunction requires Campbell to approve the application within seven days. He may impose only conditions applied to other indoor Capitol events, such as security, insurance and damage deposits, and may not restrict costumes, the contest or props based on their message. TST’s claims of religious discrimination, unequal treatment and violations of state law remain pending. The group is also seeking damages.
Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird’s office said the state will appeal. “Because the Satanic Temple’s submission is not age-appropriate for young children, it was denied,” spokeswoman Jen Green told the Des Moines Register. Green also told USA Today, “The State of Iowa wants the Capitol complex to be safe and welcoming for those kids.” Reynolds and the Department of Administrative Services did not respond to requests for comment from the Associated Press.
TST general counsel Matt Kezhaya told the AP, “Too often, fear or misunderstanding of the ‘other’ is amplified by petty governmental bureaucrats.” He added, “This was always going to be a family-friendly event.”
The dispute dates to December 2023, when the state approved a TST display featuring Baphomet, a goat-headed figure, in the Capitol. In a December 2023 statement, Reynolds called the display objectionable, urged people of faith to pray over the Capitol, and pointed Iowans to the nativity scene as “the true reason for the season.” Days later, Michael Cassidy, a former Mississippi congressional candidate, beheaded the statue. He said he “saw this blasphemous statue and was outraged.” Prosecutors dropped a felony hate-crime charge, and Cassidy pleaded guilty to third-degree criminal mischief and received probation.
In the same statement, Reynolds wrote, “In a free society, the best response to objectionable speech is more speech.”
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