Federal judge declares part of Arkansas' library obscenity law unconstitutional
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A federal judge declared parts of an Arkansas law that would have allowed criminal charges against librarians and booksellers who provide "harmful" materials to minors unconstitutional on Monday.
Why it matters: The law would have had a chilling effect on librarians and booksellers across the state because of its broad language and lack of precedent.
The big picture: "The State made no attempt to tailor Section 1 [of the law] based on the Arkansas Supreme Court's interpretation of 'harmful to minors,'" U.S. District Judge Timothy Brooks wrote in his judgment.
Flashback: Eighteen people and entities sued over the law, including the Fayetteville Public Library, Fayetteville bookstore Pearl's Books and the Arkansas Library Association.
What they're saying: "Laws like Arkansas' that seek to threaten librarians and booksellers with jail simply for doing their job are dangerous for people, communities and our democracy," Skye Perryman, President and CEO of Democracy Forward, said in an emailed statement.
- "Our team is honored to represent librarians in Arkansas to stop this attempt to impede the freedom to read and we will meet further attempts in Arkansas and elsewhere with legal challenge."
The organization represented the plaintiffs in the case.
The bottom line: Brooks' ruling only impacts Sections 1 and 5 of Act 372 of 2023, which allow for criminal charges and provide a detailed process for relocating materials within a library.
- Other sections of Act 372 went into effect in 2023. The law removes schools and public libraries from the part of the Arkansas state code that previously exempted them from prosecution "for disseminating a writing, film, slide, drawing, or other visual reproduction that is claimed to be obscene" under existing obscenity laws.
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