The court's declined on Monday to hear the case, reported Associated Press. It was an appeal on a Texas free speech case that allowed local officials to remove books that were deemed objectionable from public libraries. Over a dozen books were removed that delt with the topics of sex, race, and gender.
Jonathan Covey is policy director for Texas Values.
"This case started back in 2022, I believe, when there was a group of Llano County residents. They asked the local library to remove certain books promoting woke gender ideology, and the library complied,” informs Covey. “But then another group of residents sued to keep the books on the shelves."
He explained that the litigation then continued with a federal judge initially ordering in 2023 that some of the books restored. The county, which is mainly conservative, considered closing their public libraries instead of following through with the order. However, the ruling changed earlier this year in May.
"The Fifth Circuit later reversed that decision and ruled that removing books from a library shelf is not a constitutional violation," says Covey.
He said that he thinks the Fifth Circuit was right. In the court’s majority opinion, this removal of books was not constituted as a book ban.
"The local officials can protect residents and can make decisions about books promoting harmful gender ideology and libraries without violating free speech. Libraries — they exist to serve their communities and not to distribute materials that promote harmful gender ideology," states Covey.
He emphasized his belief that there should be local control over library collections. Furthermore, he said that removing books from a public library is not the same as "banning" them.
"They can go to online retailers and bookstores or borrow books from friends. So, I think this ruling really respects that libraries are not required to carry every book ever published, and I think that's a good," concludes Covey.
