Arkansas Librarians and Booksellers Challenge Book Ban Law in Lawsuit

A group of librarians, booksellers, readers, and authors are suing Arkansas over a new law that threatens jail time for librarians who make banned books available to minors. The law, signed by Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders in March, implements a new system for challenging library books and threatens up to a year in prison for librarians. The lawsuit challenges the Arkansas law on constitutional grounds, claiming it violates Arkansans’ 1st and 14th amendment rights. Arkansas librarians have expressed concern that the age limits would disproportionately target certain identities.