US District Judge Timothy L. Brooks blocked Arkansas on Saturday from enforcing Act 372, a law that penalizes librarians for “furnishing harmful item[s] to minors.” The case is in the US District Court for the Western District of Fayetteville Division. Judge Brooks ruled that the law is unconstitutional because it is overbroad and vague.

Judge Brookes blocked the law after weighing (1) the threat of irreparable harm to the moving party, (2) the movant’s likelihood of success on the merits, (3) the balance between the harm to the movant if the injunction is denied and the harm to the party if the injunction is granted and (4) the public interest. He found the plaintiffs were likely to succeed on the merits because the term “harmful to minors” in Section 1 is overbroad, and “appropriateness” in Section 5 is vague. He also found that the law fails strict scrutiny because “no compelling interest” justifies Section 5 of the bill. After concluding that the factors weighed in favor of the plaintiffs, Arkansas was blocked from enforcing Sections 1 and 5 of the act.

Section 1 of the bill makes it a misdemeanor to furnish harmful items to minors. Section 5 provides a procedure by which anyone “affected” by a book may challenge its placement in the library or its inclusion in the library’s collection on the ground that it is “[in]appropriate.” The plaintiffs in the case include librarians and libraries that would be affected by the law and are represented by the ACLU of Arkansas. The plaintiffs argue that the law violated their First and Fourteenth Amendment rights.

In response to the ruling, ACLU of Arkansas Executive Director Holly Dickson stated: 

We commend the court’s decision to stop the enforcement of Sections 3 and 5 of Act 372, which would have jeopardized the essential First Amendment rights of all residents of Arkansas. It’s regrettable that we even have to question whether our constitutional rights are still respected today. The question we had to ask was — do Arkansans still legally have access to reading materials? Luckily, the judicial system has once again defended our highly valued liberties. We are committed to maintaining the fight to safeguard everyone’s right to access information and ideas.

Additionally, Arkansas State Senator Dan Sullivan, the sponsor of the bill, responded to the ruling by saying:

We’re disappointed but not particularly surprised that this federal Obama appointed judge in Washington County, chosen after extensive court-shopping by plaintiffs, found common cause with the American Library Association over the safety and well being of our children. Act 372 was overwhelmingly passed by the Legislature and signed by the Governor. I’ll continue to fight to keep material that is harmful to minors away from our most vulnerable. We will be appealing this decision to the Court of Appeals and investigating other legislation to protect our children.

Arkansas is not the first state this year to pass a law restricting public library books. Earlier this year, the American Library Association released a report quantifying the dramatic increase in demands for book censorship.