The long-running dispute over Llano County’s decision to remove nearly 20 books from the public library in 2021 continues.
A total of 17 books, many of which included themes relating to race, gender, and sexuality, were removed from libraries in Llano County for what officials described as pornographic and sexually explicit content. Following the book ban, county residents filed a lawsuit in April 2022, stating, “Book banning offends basic First Amendment principles and strikes at the core of our democracy,” reported ABC News.
On March 31, Federal Judge Robert Pitman ordered the books returned to libraries. Following the decision, Llano County Judge Ron Cunningham announced that the libraries would stay open and reinstate the banned books.
Llano subsequently appealed the district court’s decision to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, which affirmed the ruling earlier this summer. Llano then asked for and was granted an en banc hearing from the appellate court, which is scheduled to take place on September 24.
Texas Public Radio reports on amicus briefs that the ALCU and others have filed. Here’s the start of the story:
The American Civil Liberties Union and several other organizations filed briefs Tuesday in an ongoing lawsuit over books removed from the Llano County library.
The ACLU said Llano County’s removal of 17 books from their public library in 2021 was politically motivated. They argue that allowing government officials to order librarians to remove books based on viewpoint amounts to censorship.
“If courts allow government officials to pull books out of public libraries in order to impose a government-approved set of views, they’re opening a Pandora’s box of censorship,” said Vera Eidelman, staff attorney with the ACLU’s Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project.
Leila Green Little and six other library patrons sued county officials over the book removals in 2022. A district court judge ruled in their favor in 2023, but Llano appealed to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.
A three judge-panel largely affirmed the ruling earlier this summer. But Llano officials petitioned for a rehearing of the case before the entire appeals court. That hearing is scheduled for September 24.