HOUSTON — The book ban debate is heating up as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit is preparing to hear a case that'll determine how the First Amendment governs the types of books you'll find on your public library shelves.
The focus is on central Texas. In a nutshell, the argument boils down to whether free speech rules apply to public library books or not.
The Llano County Public Library is at the center of a lawsuit that could have impacts across Texas.
Back in 2022, according to the Austin American-Statesman, the library removed a series of books after a group of community activists asked them to be removed after deeming them.
The selected texts were said to contain Critical Race Theory and LGBTQ+ topics.
"It takes us down a very slippery and scary slope for any government official to say the First Amendment does not apply at all. The government can freely ban whatever books we want," said ACLU of Texas attorney Brian Klosterboer.
A district court judge, according to the Statesman, determined the library violated the First Amendment, requiring the books be returned. The argument is now headed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
Attorney Ken Paxton filed an amicus brief, saying the selection of public library materials is government speech.
A portion of that brief said:
The Supreme Court has repeatedly held that the government’s authority to “regulate the content of . . . its own message,” includes the discretionary selection and compilation of materials for presentation to citizens—the selection of library materials is no different.
The ACLU of Texas filed its own amicus brief. They argue that a book's appropriateness should fall on the reader, not the government.
"It will help all of us to have the courts of hold the first amendment standards that is up to us as people, as parents, as readers to decide what ideas we want to engage within the library. It shouldn’t be up to the government to censor or ban books that some people don’t like," said Klosterboer.
Paxton's brief added the public tends to view the book collection for a county library as government speech:
"When it selects library materials to make available in a public library, the government conveys that those materials are of the “requisite and appropriate quality” and will “be of the greatest direct benefit or interest to the community.”
Oral arguments are set to begin later this month.