Amicus Briefs Urge Appeals Court to Uphold Block on Texas Book Rating Law (publishersweekly.com)

With oral arguments set for November 29, some 17 organizations and individuals have teamed up to file six separate amicus briefs urging the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit to uphold a lower court decision striking key provisions of HB 900, Texas’s controversial book rating law.

Among the briefs and arguments filed on November 17:
The Freedom to Read Foundation and the American Association of School Librarians: “Appellants argue that HB 900 is simply an innocuous mechanism to protect school children from ‘sexually explicit materials.’

The Association of University Presses; Barnes & Noble; the Educational Book and Media Association; Freedom to Learn Advocates; Half Price Books, Records, Magazines; the Independent Book Publishers Association; Penguin Random House; and Sourcebooks: “First, the mandatory ratings are classic ‘compelled speech’ in violation of the First Amendment. As the District Court held, [HB 900] impermissibly compels Amici to ‘create speech that [we do] not wish to make, and in addition, in which [we do] not agree with,’ in violation of the First Amendment.

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, the Cato Institute, and the National Coalition Against Censorship: “[HB 900’s] failure to provide booksellers and public employees clear standards and fair notice of its reach suggests a more speech- chilling purpose: censoring content and views that Texas finds unworthy,” the brief states.
much more at: https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/93787-numerous-organizations-urge-appeals-court-to-block-texas-book-rating-law.html

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