Portions of an Arkansas law that would have subjected librarians to criminal charges for letting kids check out books deemed "harmful to minors" were struck down by a federal judge last week, who ruled that parts of the law violated the First and Fourteenth Amendments.
Act 372, signed into law by Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R) in March 2023, requires public libraries to allow citizens to challenge library materials. Each challenge must undergo a lengthy review process, and challenged books may be moved to an area off-limits to minors.
