Federal Judge Blocks Arkansas Law Criminalizing Librarians Over 'Harmful' Books

A federal judge in Arkansas has issued a preliminary injunction blocking a law that would have allowed criminal charges against librarians and booksellers for providing "harmful" materials to minors. The law, signed by Republican Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, was set to take effect on August 1. The judge's decision also rejected a motion to dismiss the case and recognized the law as censorship and a violation of the Constitution. The lawsuit comes amid a growing number of conservative states pushing for measures to ban or restrict access to books, with last year seeing the highest number of attempts to ban or restrict books in 20 years.