On July 29, U.S. District Judge Timothy L. Brooks blocked Arkansas from enacting Act 372, which would penalize librarians for “furnishing harmful items to minors,” ruling the Act unconstitutional for being overbroad and vague.
In his opinion Judge Brooks wrote that Plaintiffs had established “if libraries and bookstores continue to allow individuals under the age of 18 to enter, the only way librarians and booksellers could comply with the law would be to keep minors away from any material considered obscene as to the youngest minors.” He also wrote that it would likely affect adults browsing shelves of libraries and bookstores with their minor children would be prohibited from most reading material out of fear that the children may access the materials.
In continued comment on Section 1 the court found that Section 1’s use of “makes available,” “Presents,” and “shows,” would leave librarians unsure “whether placing books known to contain sexual content on the bookshelves” may make them liable if a minor is within the building. For those reasons Section 1 was struck down.
Brooks also described Section 5, which gives a procedure for someone affected by a book to challenge its placement or inclusion in the library’s collection on its “appropriateness,” as “very poorly drafted.” Not only was the law vague in regard to the lack of definition of “appropriateness,” but also that Section 5 would have imposed content-based restrictions on protected speech rendering the law unconstitutional.
The ACLU, which represented plaintiffs in the law including librarians and libraries in Arkansas, commended the courts decision to enjoin the sections of Act 372.
Arkansas State Senator Dan Sullivan, who sponsored the bill, responded to the ruling on Facebook by writing, “We’re disappointed but not particularly surprised that this federal Obama appointed judge in Washington County, chosen after extensive court-shopping by plaintiffs, found common cause with the American Library Association over the safety and well being of our children.” He continued in his statement saying that he will be appealing the decision and “investigating other legislation to protect our children.”
While Sullivan equated Brooks’ decision to a seeming bias over party lines, it may be noted that Brooks was confirmed on March 5, 2014 by the U.S. Senate on a 100-0 vote.
Member of the Eureka Springs Library Board Lucilla Garrett spoke on the injunction on Tuesday afternoon. While qualifying that she could not speak for the whole board she said, “Personally, I would like it to go to trial to determine the constitutionality of the case. It seems to me if there’s an injunction blocking it there’d be considerable concern over its constitutionality.” The board was plaintiff in the case and Garrett voiced confidence in the lawyers and central library system who are the main plaintiffs.