Arkansas Act 372 was signed by the
Arkansas governor
The governor of Arkansas is the head of government of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The governor is the head of the executive branch of the Arkansas government and is charged with enforcing state laws. They have the power to either approve or v ...
on March 31 and is scheduled to go into effect in August 2023.
Sections one and five of Arkansas Act 372 expose
librarian
A librarian is a person who works professionally in a library providing access to information, and sometimes social or technical programming, or instruction on information literacy to users.
The role of the librarian has changed much over time ...
s and
booksellers
Bookselling is the commercial trading of books which is the retail and distribution end of the publishing process. People who engage in bookselling are called booksellers, bookdealers, bookpeople, bookmen, or bookwomen. The founding of librari ...
to criminal penalties, which includes up to a year in prison, in the case they distribute materials such as
book
A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images, typically composed of many pages (made of papyrus, parchment, vellum, or paper) bound together and protected by a cover. The technical term for this physi ...
s,
magazines, and
movies
A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...
deemed "harmful to minors."
The Act
The primary purpose of Act 372 is to permit books in
public libraries to be
banned or transferred. It states that anybody may "challenge the appropriateness" of a book, although it does not specify what "
obscene
An obscenity is any utterance or act that strongly offends the prevalent morality of the time. It is derived from the Latin ''obscēnus'', ''obscaenus'', "boding ill; disgusting; indecent", of uncertain etymology. Such loaded language can be us ...
" or "appropriateness" means. According to the law, a panel of persons appointed by head librarians would assess disputed material and cast votes in a
public hearing
In law, a hearing is a proceeding before a court or other decision-making body or officer, such as a government agency or a legislative committee.
Description
A hearing is generally distinguished from a trial in that it is usually shorter and o ...
on whether it should be maintained on access to the public or transferred to a section of the library unavailable to individuals below the
age
Age or AGE may refer to:
Time and its effects
* Age, the amount of time someone or something has been alive or has existed
** East Asian age reckoning, an Asian system of marking age starting at 1
* Ageing or aging, the process of becoming older ...
of 18. Act 372 also permits librarians and booksellers to face up to a year in prison if they allow children to have access to
banned books
This is an index of lists of banned books, which contain books that have been banned or censored by religious authority or government.
By country
* Book censorship in Canada
* Book censorship in China
* List of books banned in India
* Book ce ...
.
Reactions
On 2 June 2023, a coalition of Arkansas librarians, booksellers, and customers launched a
lawsuit challenging the lawsuit. The complaint was brought by
Democracy Forward, a nonprofit legal advocacy organization, in the
on behalf of the defendants, which also comprises the
Arkansas Library Association
The Arkansas Library Association (ArLA) is a professional organization for Arkansas's librarians and library workers. It is headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas. It was founded on January 26, 1911, in Little Rock, Arkansas by Caroline Langworthy ...
and the
Central Arkansas Library System
Central Arkansas Library System (CALS) is a public library system headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas.
The largest public library system in Arkansas, the Central Arkansas Library System serves all residents of Pulaski County and Perry Coun ...
.
The lawsuit has challenged the legality of two out of six chapters included in Act 372. The group of plaintiffs includes the public libraries in
Eureka Springs
Eureka Springs is a city in Carroll County, Arkansas, United States, and one of two county seats for the county. It is located in the Ozark Mountains of northwest Arkansas, near the border with Missouri. As of the 2020 census, the city populat ...
and
Fayetteville, Central Arkansas Library System, trade associations and two bookstores In July 2023, U.S. District Judge Timothy Brooks granted plaintiffs’ request to temporary
enjoin
An injunction is a legal and equitable remedy in the form of a special court order that compels a party to do or refrain from specific acts. ("The court of appeals ... has exclusive jurisdiction to enjoin, set aside, suspend (in whole or in p ...
two of the five sections of Act 372, saying that parts of the law arts violate freedoms under
First Amendment
First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1).
First or 1st may also refer to:
*World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement
Arts and media Music
* 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...
. Brooks’ decision means much of Act 372 will not go into effect as originally scheduled.
Supporters of the new rule argue the legislation would safeguard children from "
indoctrination
Indoctrination is the process of inculcating a person with ideas, attitudes, cognitive strategies or professional methodologies (see doctrine).
Humans are a social animal species inescapably shaped by cultural context, and thus some degree ...
" and concerns regarding the teaching of
race and racism in US history,
sexual preference, and
gender identity
Gender identity is the personal sense of one's own gender. Gender identity can correlate with a person's assigned sex or can differ from it. In most individuals, the various biological determinants of sex are congruent, and consistent with the ...
as well.
References
{{Reflist, 30em
United States lawsuits