Overview
- U.S. District Judge Carlos Mendoza found that the law’s ban on material that “describes sexual conduct” is overbroad under the First Amendment and unconstitutional.
- The court rejected Florida’s argument that library book removals constitute government speech, noting that content-based prohibitions lack intentional expressive intent.
- The decision reverts review of challenged works to the Supreme Court’s Miller test, which requires assessing a work’s literary, artistic or political value as a whole.
- Since HB 1069 took effect in 2023, state guidance and penalties for educators prompted thousands of preemptive removals of both classics and children’s books.
- Florida officials have already announced plans to appeal the ruling, leaving school districts in legal uncertainty over library policies.