Federal judge blocks Arkansas law that would have allowed librarians to be criminalized for ’harmful’ materials

U.S. District Judge Timothy L. Brooks has temporarily blocked the enforcement of an Arkansas law that would have allowed librarians to be criminally charged for providing “harmful” materials to minors.

Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R) signed Act 372 in March, and it would have gone into effect today. Librarians and book vendors would have been criminally liable for making certain content available to minors. A lawsuit filed by a combined group of libraries, bookstores and publishing groups filed a lawsuit challenging the law in June, arguing that Act 372 violates the First Amendment.

Brooks agreed with the First Amendment concern in his 49-page decision. He referred to the law’s definition of “appropriateness” as too vague to enforce for library material. The plaintiffs also fear an eventual ban on individuals under the age of 18 to avoid constant prosecution.

Despite these concerns, Sanders and her administration continue to support Act 372. Sanders’ communication director Alexa Henning defended the law in a statement to CNN.

“The governor supports laws that protects kids from having access to obscene content and the idea that Democrats want kids to receive material that is literally censored in Congressional testimony is absurd and only appropriate in the radical left’s liberal utopia,” said Henning in the statement.

The block keeps Arkansas off the list of Republican-controlled states attempting to ban or restrict books, which includes Texas, Indiana, Florida and Iowa.