A U.S. Federal judge on Monday blocked the enforcement of a law in Texas aimed at restricting books in schools. The controversial law in question is House Bill (HB) 900. This piece of legislation, which was embraced by the Texas Legislature and endorsed into law by Governor Greg Abbot, demanded the Texas State Library and Archives Commission to establish standards for “sexually explicit” materials and prohibit schools from owning or acquiring such materials for use in libraries. HB 900 also detailed certain obligations for library material vendors.
The law imposed a “contextual analysis” on each book procured or in possession, compelling vendors to evaluate the material, ascertain its propriety, and conclude whether the content is explicitly offensive. However, the law gave the Texas Education Agency power to override a vendor’s judgment. In case of non-compliance, vendors would be prohibited from selling any book materials to public schools.
A coalition of writers, publishers, and booksellers challenged the enforcement of HB 900, asserting it violated the First Amendment. Their lawsuit was heard by Judge Alan Albright of The Western District of Texas. Albright agreed with the arguments presented and declared that the law violated the First Amendment since it entailed unwarranted prior restraint and compelled speech. Moreover, he labeled the law as “unconstitutionally vague”, doubting if it was feasible for any third party to comply with the requirements that would necessitate a content-based assessment of every book traded to each Texan school district, which number more than a thousand.
The ruling was met with an immediate appeal by the Texas State Board of Education and the Texas State Library and Archives Commission at the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.