Book Publishers Sue Florida Over 2023 Law Restricting School Library Books
Six of the nation’s largest book publishers, joined by the Authors Guild and several high-profile authors, students, and parents, have filed a lawsuit against the Florida Department of Education, challenging a controversial 2023 state law that restricts books in school libraries. The plaintiffs argue that the law, known as HB 1069, is overly broad and violates First Amendment rights by imposing undue censorship on literature available to students.
The lawsuit, filed on Friday, asserts that the Florida law infringes on the freedom of expression protected by the U.S. Constitution. Specifically, the plaintiffs claim that the law restricts authors and publishers from communicating ideas to students and undermines students' rights to access diverse viewpoints without excessive government interference.
HB 1069, which took effect on July 1, 2023, significantly expands the state’s authority to ban books that contain sexual content. Unlike previous standards, the new law does not require consideration of a book's overall literary, artistic, or cultural value before it can be prohibited. Additionally, the law mandates that any book challenged by a parent must be removed from school libraries within five days, remaining unavailable until the challenge is resolved.
The plaintiffs argue that this approach disregards the obscenity test established by the U.S. Supreme Court in the landmark 1973 case Miller v. California. Under the Miller standard, the material is only considered obscene and therefore unprotected by the First Amendment if it lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value when considered as a whole. The lawsuit contends that Florida’s law violates this precedent by allowing the state to ban books without assessing their overall merit.
Mary Rasenberger, CEO of the Authors Guild, emphasized the effects of the law in a statement, saying, "Book bans censor authors’ voices, negating and silencing their lived experience and stories... We all lose out when authors’ truths are censored."
This lawsuit is part of a growing wave of legal challenges against similar book bans across the United States. Recent legislative efforts in states like Iowa, Texas, Arkansas, Alabama, and Idaho have sparked a series of court battles over the constitutionality of restricting access to literature based on its sexual content.
Since HB 1069 went into effect, it has led to the removal of several classic works from Florida school libraries, including The Diary of Anne Frank, Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina, and Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five.
