A coalition of book vendors is suing to stop a new state law designed to keep smut out of Texas school libraries.
House Bill 900 by State Rep. Jared Patterson (R–Frisco) prohibits school library material that is sexually explicit, vulgar, or educationally unsuitable.
HB 900 sets up state-level standards designed to keep inappropriate sexual content out of all school libraries and classrooms and places the burden on vendors to rate and label books based on sexual content.
Vendors that fail to comply cannot sell books to Texas schools.
The complaint, filed Tuesday, claims that HB 900 is unconstitutionally vague and overbroad.
The plaintiffs say the new law “replaces long-established rights of local communities to set and implement standards for school materials within constitutional boundaries, and forces private businesses to act as instruments of state censorship on controversial topics under threat of retaliation.”
Patterson responded immediately to news of the lawsuit, tweeting, “Bring it.”
Bring it. https://t.co/WfLG36co8w pic.twitter.com/WKBcWQz7Pw
— Rep. Jared Patterson (@JaredLPatterson) July 25, 2023
“Having fought against sexually explicit content in schools for the past 18 months, I fully recognize the far left will do anything to maintain their ability to sexualize our children,” Patterson said. “We anticipated a suit such as this from the beginning and crafted The READER Act based on longstanding Supreme Court precedent across multiple cases.”
Plaintiffs want the court to block implementation of the new law, which takes effect on September 1.
“I’m signing a law that gets that trash out of our schools,” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said during a ceremony in June. “Our students need materials that not only will educate them, but also prepare them to advance our state and our country.”
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