Industry & Advocacy News
August 1, 2024
Update, September 20, 2024: The Authors Guild, along with several major publishers and notable authors, filed an amicus brief in the Llano County Library case, emphasizing the significance of the books removed from the library. The brief attacks the defendants’ belated argument that the removals were part of the library’s routine “weeding” process of removing books and highlights that the books in question include critically acclaimed works such as Isabel Wilkerson’s Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents and Susan Campbell Bartoletti’s They Called Themselves the K.K.K.: The Birth of an American Terrorist Group, which are frequently targeted for bans.
The brief urges the court to reaffirm established precedents that guide judicial review of library book removals, specifically referencing the cases of Board of Education v. Pico and Campbell v. St. Tammany Parish School Board. In the brief, we also explain that decisions made by public libraries regarding book curation do not constitute government speech, and we underscore the importance of protecting citizens’ rights to read and receive diverse information. The brief is supported by prominent authors, with James Patterson and Stephen King as signers, reinforcing the message that censorship undermines authorship and writers’ Constitutional right to free speech.
Update, August 1, 2024: After the Fifth Circuit upheld the District Court’s preliminary injunction, the defendants requested a rehearing by the Fifth Circuit’s entire panel of judges. Although such rehearings are not granted as a matter of course, in this case it was.
The Authors Guild will be submitting an amicus brief to the Fifth Circuit in connection with the rehearing to advise the court on authors’ and publishers’ interests in the case along with Hachette, Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Macmillan, Scholastic, and the American Association of Publishers.
June 18, 2024: In a crucial victory for the First Amendment, on June 6, 2024, the Fifth Circuit upheld a preliminary injunction in Little et al. v. Llano County, requiring the public library in Llano County, Texas, to restore seventeen books to its shelves. The plaintiffs, who were library patrons, alleged that the county, officials, library board, and a local judge had engaged in unconstitutional “viewpoint discrimination” by removing these books based on the views expressed within them.
The District Court had ordered Llano County to return the removed books pending the resolution of the litigation. Rather than comply, county officials considered closing the library, but county residents, including at least one Guild member, objected, and the library did not close to the public. In its decision, the Fifth Circuit affirmed that most of the removed books must be restored, with a few exceptions noted by one of the judges, Leslie H. Southwick.
Judge Southwick asserted that the plaintiffs had failed to meet their burden for certain books, including the “butt and fart books” (e.g., I Broke My Butt! and Larry the Farting Leprechaun); Maurice Sendak’s In the Night Kitchen, which features cartoon drawings of a naked child; and It’s Perfectly Normal: Changing Bodies, Growing Up, Sex and Sexual Health. The judge said, “Viewpoints and ideas are few in number in a book titled Gary the Goose and His Gas on the Loose.” Additionally, he exempted the Sendak and Harris books, claiming that their removal was part of the library’s efforts to address concerns about promoting grooming and containing sexually explicit material inappropriate for children.
The Llano County case demonstrates that attempts to restrict minors’ access to certain books can also infringe upon the First Amendment rights of adults, extending well beyond the school environment. It is worth noting that the Authors Guild Foundation recently honored librarian Suzette Baker, who was fired for refusing to remove books from the library in Kingsland, Texas, as instructed by the same Llano County authorities. Baker has also filed a lawsuit alleging retaliation for her efforts to oppose the library’s discriminatory practices and the infringement of her First Amendment rights.
We will continue to monitor Little v. Llano County and will consider weighing in with an amicus brief if appropriate.
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