Book Bans

After plaintiffs in the Texas READER law case asked for a ontinuance due to a scheduling conflict, the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit updated the schedule for the state’s appeal. Now the case will not be fully briefed until November 20, with oral arguments scheduled for November 29 (previously scheduled for November 8). In the meantime, the book banning law remains in place, even though Judge Alan D. Albright issued an injunction and ruled the law unconstitutional in September. The merits panel can rule on the stay of the injunction at any time, from when they get the […]

The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in Texas has agreed to expedite oral arguments in the appeal of the preliminary injunction blocking the state of Texas’s cumbersome “READER” book banning law. (The injunction was stayed pending appeal, meaning the law is in force until further action from the appeals court.) A full schedule has the case due to be fully briefed by November 3.

The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in Texas formally issued a temporary administrative stay of Judge Alan D. Albright’s clear and unambiguous preliminary injunction blocking implementation of Texas’s cumbersome “READER” book banning law. The court is expected to decide further on whether or not to stay the original order pending the full appeal after the issue is fully briefed in early October.

On Monday, Judge Alan D. Albright of the US District Court for the Western District of Texas, Austin Division filed his full order blocking “READER,” a state book banning law that would require retailers to review and rate millions of books according to vague state standards for obscene content (ratings that the state could change anyway). The court ruled that the state could not delegate the rating of books to third parties, holding that it violates the First Amendment as “compelled speech.” In the preliminary injunction, the judge all but calls the Texas law dumb: “For whatever reason, Texas chose […]

In a public status conference for the trial brought by bookstores and the AAP against Texas’s book ban law, Judge Alan Albright told lawyers for each party that he will be ruling for the plaintiffs and preventing any further action from the state. The judge said that he was not able to get a written order completed by the day the law was to take effect, Sept 1, and that it should be available in the next two weeks. The order will grant a preliminary injunction to the statute in its entirety, and deny the state’s motion to dismiss the […]

Plaintiffs including the AAP and bookstores Book People and Blue Willow have field a brief opposing Texas’s motion to dismiss their lawsuit against the state’s book ban law, which would require retailers to place ratings on books. The next hearing is scheduled for Monday, and the judge is expected to make a ruling before the law would go into effect on September 1. In their filing, the plaintiffs write, “Plaintiffs have suffered an injury-in-fact that is traceable to Defendants and that will be redressed by injunctive relief. Plaintiffs’ injuries are “imminent” because they will be barred from selling any books […]