A federal judge on Monday invalidated significant portions of an Arkansas law that sought to impose criminal penalties on librarians and booksellers for providing material deemed "harmful" or "obscene" to minors. The ruling, which determined that key sections of Act 372 were unconstitutional, has dealt a blow to a measure championed by Republican Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders as a safeguard for children.
"The law deputizes librarians and booksellers as the agents of censorship; when motivated by the fear of jail time, it is likely they will shelve only books fit for young children and segregate or discard the rest," wrote U.S. District Judge Timothy Brooks of the Western District of Arkansas in his decision.
Act 372, signed into law in 2023, aimed to establish mechanisms for challenging library materials deemed age-inappropriate and provided avenues for their removal. Among its provisions, the law introduced criminal misdemeanor charges-carrying penalties of up to one year in jail-for individuals who made such materials accessible to minors. Another provision required local governments to set up oversight boards to evaluate citizen complaints and requests for book removal.
Judge Brooks had previously issued a temporary injunction halting enforcement of the law just days before it was set to take effect. His latest ruling struck down two provisions-sections one and five-citing First Amendment violations and vagueness in the law's language.
Section one, which criminalized the distribution of certain materials to minors, was deemed overly broad and unclear. Brooks argued that terms like "harmful to children" and "appropriate" lacked precise definitions, creating potential for arbitrary enforcement. He also raised concerns about the provision allowing any individual, even those outside Arkansas, to challenge a library's decisions, further complicating implementation.
"This is a significant milestone on a long, sometimes rocky road we were obligated to travel after the passage of Act 372," said Nate Coulter, executive director of the Central Arkansas Library System, one of the plaintiffs in the case. "We took that path to protect our librarians from prosecution for doing their jobs and to prevent some local elected officials from censoring library books they did not feel were 'appropriate' for our patrons to read."
Governor Sanders defended the law in a statement to KATV-TV, saying, "Act 372 is just common sense: schools and libraries shouldn't put obscene material in front of our kids. I will work with Attorney General Griffin to appeal this ruling and uphold Arkansas law."
Attorney General Tim Griffin echoed the governor's sentiments, stating that while he respected the court's decision, the state would seek to overturn it on appeal.
The law was met with widespread criticism from organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Arkansas, which argued that the fear of criminal penalties could lead to self-censorship among librarians. They contended that local officials might abuse the law to remove books they personally deemed inappropriate, irrespective of community needs or standards.
The legal battle over Act 372 echoes a similar case in 2004, when a federal judge struck down an Arkansas law requiring booksellers and librarians to shield materials classified as "harmful to minors." That measure, too, was deemed unconstitutional due to its vague language and potential for overreach.
