Federal Judge Blocks Arkansas Law Criminalizing Distribution of “Harmful” Materials to Minors
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – A federal judge has temporarily halted the enforcement of an Arkansas law that would have allowed criminal charges to be filed against librarians and booksellers for providing “harmful” materials to minors. U.S. District Judge Timothy L. Brooks issued a preliminary injunction against the law, which was set to take effect on August 1. The measure, signed by Republican Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, would have also introduced a new process to challenge library materials and request their relocation to areas not accessible to children.
The law faced strong opposition from a coalition that included the Central Arkansas Library System in Little Rock, who argued that fear of prosecution could lead libraries and booksellers to refrain from carrying titles that might be contested. In response to the lawsuit, the judge rejected a motion by the defendants, which included prosecuting attorneys for the state, to dismiss the case.
The ACLU of Arkansas, representing some of the plaintiffs, celebrates the court’s ruling as a victory for First Amendment rights. “The question we had to ask was – do Arkansans still legally have access to reading materials? Luckily, the judicial system has once again defended our highly valued liberties,” said Holly Dickson, the executive director of the ACLU in Arkansas, in a statement.
This lawsuit comes at a time when conservative states are increasingly pushing for measures that make it easier to ban or restrict access to books. According to the American Library Association, last year saw the highest number of attempts to ban or restrict books in the past 20 years. States like Iowa, Indiana, and Texas have already implemented laws that restrict access to certain materials or facilitate their challenge.
The lawsuit in Arkansas names the state’s 28 local prosecutors as defendants, along with Crawford County in western Arkansas. Additionally, a separate lawsuit is contesting the decision made by the Crawford County library to relocate children’s books with LGBTQ+ themes to a separate section of the library.
Other plaintiffs involved in challenging Arkansas’ restrictive measures include the Fayetteville and Eureka Springs Carnegie public libraries, the American Booksellers Association, and the Association of American Publishers. The outcome of this case has broader implications for the protection of intellectual freedom and access to diverse reading materials for minors across the state.