Judge Blocks Arkansas Law Targeting Librarians

Facts

• On Saturday, US District Judge Timothy L. Brooks issued a preliminary injunction to stall Arkansas from enforcing a law that would allow librarians and booksellers to face criminal charges for providing materials deemed harmful to minors.¹
• The law, which was scheduled to take effect Aug. 1, was signed by Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders earlier this year.¹
• Act 372 says knowingly providing minors with access to material that would appeal “to a prurient interest in sex” could lead to criminal charges, and defines such materials as lacking “serious literary, scientific, medical, artistic, or political value” and being “patently offensive” under community standards.²
• The Central Arkansas Library system is among the coalition that filed suit to challenge the law on the grounds that it could have a chilling effect on what books are carried in libraries and bookstores.³
• The Fayetteville and Eureka Springs Carnegie public libraries, the American Booksellers Association, and the Association of American Publishers also joined the suit as plaintiffs.³
• The suit names all of Arkansas’ 28 elected prosecuting attorneys, the county of Crawford, and Crawford’s judge Chris Keith because they would be tasked with enforcing the law.⁴

Sources: ¹Associated Press, ²CNN, ³FOX News, and ⁴Washington Post.

Narratives

• Republican narrative, as provided by Daily Wire. In the face of woke Democrats increasingly attempting to expose children to inappropriate materials in schools, libraries, and bookstores, parents have been activated to step in and protect their kids from filth and other indoctrination. This law, which would build on existing statutes to make sure there would be no loopholes for those who would subject children to sexually explicit and graphic materials, is worth fighting for in the courts.
• Democratic narrative, as provided by Mother Jones. Republicans are on a censorship binge across the country, and blocking this law from taking effect is just a small step in preserving the First Amendment rights of teachers, librarians, and booksellers. This law and others like it are meant to prevent kids from learning about LGBTQ+ issues and the history of race in the US, but Republicans shouldn’t be allowed to foster ignorance behind claims that they’re defending decency.