Decision is a rebuke of attempts to polarize communities and deprive Americans of bedrock freedoms

Fayetteville, AR – Today, a federal judge ruled unconstitutional portions of Act 372 of 2023, a state law championed by Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders that would subject librarians and booksellers to potential prosecution and severely limit readers’ access to books in libraries and bookstores. Initially halted on a preliminary basis in July 2023, today’s ruling brings permanent relief to librarians and booksellers across Arkansas by declaring that the portions of Act 372, which would threaten them with jail time for simply doing their jobs, cannot be implemented. Today’s win is a complete rebuke of these extremists tactics and a win for democracy and the freedom to read.

The challenged provisions of Act 372 would have forced librarians and booksellers to work under a vague and looming threat of criminal prosecution that encouraged self-censorship and severely limited readers’ access to books in libraries and bookstores. A broad coalition of librarians, libraries, authors, publishers, readers, and booksellers, including the Arkansas Library Association, Advocates for All Arkansas Libraries, and Garland County Library Director Adam Webb, filed suit in June of 2023 to challenge the law. Judge Timothy Brooks preliminarily enjoined the law in July 2023. 

 In today’s ruling, Judge Brooks found that Section 1 of Act 372, which created a new criminal misdemeanor for “furnishing a harmful item to a minor,” is unconstitutional because it regulates substantially more speech than the Constitution allows and its terms are so vague that they fail to provide librarians and booksellers with adequate notice of what conduct is prohibited. Judge Brooks also struck down Section 5 of Act 372, which requires public libraries to establish a burdensome challenge process, finding that it also used unconstitutionally vague terminology and, under the guise of protecting young children, would unlawfully censor a large number of books that are constitutionally protected for adults and teenagers. 

“Act 372, which Governor Huckabee Sanders signed in 2023, was written so broad and vague that librarians would have been forced to turn libraries into segregated vaults to avoid going to jail. The Court was correct when it stopped harmful sections of the law from taking effect,” said Ben Seel, Senior Counsel with Democracy Forward, which is representing the Arkansas Library Association (ArLA), Advocates for All Arkansas Libraries (AAAL), and Adam Webb in the case. “The court has made it clear once and for all that public librarians and booksellers across Arkansas can continue to serve Arkansans without fear of being prosecuted for simply doing their jobs and that readers across Arkansas can continue to access materials that interest them.”

“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. 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,” said Skye Perryman, President and CEO of Democracy Forward. 

The coalition challenging the law includes ArLA, AAAL, and Adam Webb, represented by Will Bardwell, Ben Seel, Aman George, and Orlando Economos of Democracy Forward; the Fayetteville Public Library, represented by Brandon B. Cate, Vincent O. Chadick, and Glenn V. Larkin at Quattlebaum, Grooms & Tull PLCC; the Central Arkansas Library System, Nate Coulter, and the Eureka Springs Carnegie Public Library, represented by John T. Adams and David M. Fuqua of Fuqua Campbell, P.A.; Pearl’s Books, Wordsworth Community Bookstore, the American Booksellers Association, the Association of American Publishers, the Authors Guild, the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, and the Freedom to Read Foundation, represented Michael A. Bamberger, Kristen Rodriguez, and Rebecca Hughes Parker of Dentons US LLP; and Olivia Farrell, Leta Caplinger, Miel Partain, and Madeline Partain, represented by Bettina Brownstein of the Bettina E. Brownstein Law Firm on behalf of the Arkansas Civil Liberties Union Foundation.

For more information about Democracy Forward and this case, please visit https://democracyforward.org/work/challenging-arkansas-unlawful-censorship-agenda-and-criminalization-of-librarians/. 

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