Overview
- U.S. District Judge Alan Albright issued a permanent injunction against the READER Act’s requirement that book vendors rate titles for sexual content.
- Albright described the ratings regime as subjective, confusing, and unworkable and rejected the state’s claim that the ratings constituted government speech.
- A prior Fifth Circuit panel had affirmed a temporary block on the mandate for compelling speech, making any new state appeal an uphill effort.
- The plaintiff coalition of booksellers, publishers, and authors—including BookPeople and Blue Willow Books—welcomed the decision as a First Amendment victory.
- Although HB 900’s rating mandate is barred, a separate Texas law, SB 13, now requires schools to ban content deemed indecent or profane and to secure school board approval for each new library book.