Publishers, Authors, Booksellers and Libraries File Supreme Court Amicus Brief in Support of First Amendment Rights in Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton

On September 23, 2024, the Association of American Publishers, along with the American Booksellers for Free Expression, Authors Guild, Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, Freedom to Read Foundation, and Independent Book Publishers Association filed an amicus brief supporting the Free Speech Coalition in the Supreme Court case Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton.

The brief argues that Texas law HB 1181, which requires age-verification on websites where over one-third of the content is considered “harmful to minors,” violates the First Amendment because it will impede access by adults and older minors to constitutionally protected materials, including contemporary fiction, literary classics, young adult fiction, and health books.

The brief also argues that the Fifth Circuit’s failure to apply strict scrutiny amounted to a radical departure from decades of legal precedent.
more at: https://publishers.org/news/publishers-authors-booksellers-and-libraries-file-supreme-court-amicus-brief-in-support-of-first-amendment-rights-in-free-speech-coalition-v-paxton/