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By: The opinion Posted 03 Jun 2023, 23:31 pm EDT
A group of public libraries and book publishers in Arkansas filed a federal lawsuit against a state law aimed at restricting what children can read in the state, according to NBC News.
The federal lawsuit brought by a coalition led by the Little Rock-based Library System of Central Arkansas hopes to set a precedent on the constitutionality of laws such as Law 372, which is the state regulation that allows the prohibition or relocation of books in public libraries.
The Central Arkansas Library System argued in a filing with the US District Court for the Western District of Arkansas that Bill 372 violates the First Amendment by making it a misdemeanor for libraries to provide children with access to to materials that are “harmful to minors”.
The term, which means any depiction of nudity or sexual conduct intended to appeal to a prurient interest that lacks serious artistic, medical, or political value and that contemporary community standards would find inappropriate for minors, is too broad, the lawsuit contends.
For example, the law would prohibit 17-year-olds from viewing material deemed too explicit for 7-year-olds.
The lawsuit also alleges that the law violates residents’ due process rights by allowing local elected officials to overturn librarians’ decisions on book challenges without providing explanations or allowing appeals by those who disagree.
Arkansas Law 372 also says that librarians can be jailed for up to a year for giving children reading materials that are deemed “harmful to minors.”
The law will go into effect on August 1, but some libraries have already removed books on people with disabilities, puberty, religion and LGBTQ characters from children’s sections.
This year, 15 states have considered bills that would expose public librarians to criminal charges for allowing minors to borrow certain books, according to the EveryLibrary Institute, an advocacy group for librarians.
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