Jordan, Lynch & Cancienne has filed an amicus brief on behalf of Texas Freedom to Read Project, calling on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit to protect the First Amendment right to access information in public libraries by undoing a book ban in Llano County, Texas.
In the case of Little v. Llano County, seven library patrons of the Llano County library system sued organization officials and the county government after a group succeeded in having a number of books that it had deemed “inappropriate” pulled from library shelves. These books include those containing elements of LGBTQ+ persons’ experiences, sexuality in general, coming-of-age stories, and critical race theory, along with a number of silly storybooks for children. The plaintiffs claimed that the removals were an “illegal government squelching of viewpoints.”
Associates Katherine Raunikar and Sydney Rupe worked closely with Texas Freedom to Read Project to add the voice of Texas parents to the chorus demanding return of the books in question. “The world is a complicated place, with a range of perspectives and experiences that no one parent could realistically convey to their child based on experience alone, making public libraries a vital source of information,” the brief asserts. “A vocal minority should not control whether all parents can provide this range of perspectives to their children. Parents who wish to limit what their children can read need only exercise that discretion for their children alone—not infringe on others’ rights.”
The brief goes on to highlight parents’ rights to educate their children, noting that “public libraries and the books within represent an important arrow in a parent’s educational quiver.” It urges the Fifth Circuit to “reject [Defendants’] attempts to unconstitutionally restrain children’s First Amendment rights and parents’ right to direct their children’s education.”
Texas Freedom to Read Project is requesting that the Court adopt the opinion of Fifth Circuit Court Judge Jacques Wiener in full and require Llano County to return all banned books to the shelves of its public library.
To read the full brief, click here.