Freedom to Read Foundation welcomes preliminary injunction … – ala.org

Court Upholds First Amendment rights of Libraries, Librarians, Booksellers, Publishers,Authorsand Readers in Commanding Opinion

Washington, D.C. On July 29, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas granted a Preliminary Injunction, barring the implementation of two provisions of Arkansas Act 372, one of which would have subjected librarians and bookstore owners to criminal prosecution unless they removedfrom shelves serving older minors and adultsmaterial deemed unsuitable for the youngest minors. The other provision would have mandated a library book challenge procedure in public libraries whereby individuals may challenge books based on appropriateness (an undefined term not based on constitutional standards). In addition review boards would have been allowed or even invited to engage in viewpoint and content based discrimination. The ruling came in response to thesuitfiled by a coalition of plaintiffs that includes local Arkansas libraries, as well as authors, publishers, booksellers, librarians, and readers. The bill was signed by the Governor of Arkansas on March 30, 2023 and had been slated to go into effect on August 1.

Excerpts from the Order and Opinion

Joint Statement of the Organizational Plaintiffs

Allison Hill, the CEO of the American Booksellers Association; Maria Pallante, President and CEO of the Association of American Publishers; Mary Rasenberger, CEO of the Authors Guild; Deborah Caldwell- Stone, the Executive Director of the Freedom to Read Foundation; Jeff Trexler, the Interim DirectorofComic Book Legal Defense Fund; Pearls Books; Kandi West, Lia Lent and Lynne Phillips, owners of WordsWorth Books:

The court has moved decisively to protect the First Amendment rights of Arkansas book community, consistent with the rigorous analysis that freedom of speech has always required. In barring theimplementation of the challenged provisions of ArkansasAct 372, the court has preserved the constitutional right of the states readers to receive information, including viewpoints that state legislators may find disagreeable. Just as profoundly, the court has shielded the states booksellers and librarians from extreme punishments for performing their essential function of making books available to the public.

What the Bill Would Have Done

The lawsuit challenged two provisions of Act 372 that would have violated the First and Fourteenth Amendments. One component made it a crime for libraries, booksellers, and any brick-and-mortar establishment to display or make available works that might be harmful to minors. This would have required libraries and booksellers to limit all readers to books appropriate for minors or exclude all minor readers from their premises. The second provision made it possible for any person in Arkansas to demand the removal of a book the person deemed inappropriate, limiting readers to one persons opinion about what books should be in the library, and it would have permitted or encouraged review boards to engage in viewpoint- and content-based discrimination.

Plaintiffs

The plaintiffs in the suit include the American Booksellers Association, Association of American Publishers, Authors Guild, Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, Freedom to Read Foundation, and two local bookstores WordsWorth Books in Little Rock and Pearls Books in Fayetteville, as well as a consortium of local libraries, librarians, and library advocates, which includes Fayetteville Public Library, Eureka Springs Carnegie Public Library, Central Arkansas Library System (CALS), Arkansas Library Association, Advocates for All Arkansas Libraries, Nate Coulter (Executive Director of CALS); Adam Webb, a librarian from Garland County; Olivia Farrell, an adult CALS patron; Hayden Kirby, a 17-year-old CALS patron; and Leta Caplinger, a patron of the Crawford County Public Library.

Counsel

Counsel for the various plaintiffs includeJohn T. Adamsof Fuqua Campbell, P.A.;Michael Bambergerof Dentons;Bettina Brownsteinof the ACLU of Arkansas; and Benjamin Seel and Will Bardwell ofDemocracy Forward.

Read the opinion here.

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Freedom to Read Foundation welcomes preliminary injunction ... - ala.org