U.S. Judge blocks Republican book ban in Arkansas.

 

Those on the political right in Britain, think that it's only those on the political left that are into cancel culture and banning books.

A federal judge in Arkansas, in the U.S., has just blocked a law that would have made it a crime for librarians and book sellers to give materials to children deemed "harmful or obscene." Republican Governor, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, signed Act 372 into law in March. The Act, makes "furnishing a harmful item to a minor", a Class A misdemeanour, punishable by up to one year in jail and a fine of up to $2,500. U.S. District Judge, Timothy L. Brooks, issued a preliminary injunction siding with bookstores, libraries and patrons in the state, who argued that parts of the law were unconstitutional.

The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution guarantees the right to free speech. In his injunction, Judge Brooks, referred to the wider implications of the Arkansas law, quoting the novel 'Fahrenheit 451' by the author Ray Bradbury. The novel depicts a dystopian American society where books are burnt by the authorities to control people's access to information and knowledge. The Judge citing Ray Bradbury, wrote: "There is more than one way to burn a book. And the world is full of people running about with lit matches.”

Arkansas, already has a law that makes it a crime to provide obscene materials to minors, but people working in schools, libraries and museums, were protected from prosecution. Opponents of the law, said that Act 372, removed that protection and that "harmful" was overly vague and placed libraries and booksellers, in an impossible position.