Book People, Inc. v. Wong
The U.S. District Court issued an injunction on a Texas law that would require publishers and booksellers to assign ratings to certain books, which would they then be barred from selling to school libraries.
Category: cases brought by Media Coalition
Fayetteville Public Library v. Crawford County, Arkansas
The U.S. District Court granted a preliminary injunction blocking a law that would require booksellers and librarians to limit their books appropriate to all minors only or exclude all minors from their premises. Another provision on the law allows any person in Arkansas to demand the removal of a book that the person deems inappropriate.
In Re: A Court of Mist and Fury, In Re: Gender Queer
A Virginia judge dismissed the obscenity case against the books A Court of Mist and Fury and Gender Queer, finding that the law was unconstitutional as prior restraint, that it had insufficient knowledge requirement, and there was insufficient notice.
Press Release: Louisiana’s Online Age-Verification Law Is Enjoined for Violating the First Amendment
Booksellers and publishers secured a preliminary injunction against a new Louisiana law that requires websites to age-verify every Internet user before providing access to non-obscene material that could be deemed harmful to any minor.
Garden District Book Shop v. Stewart
Media Coalition brought a lawsuit on behalf of some of its members and Louisiana booksellers and publishers challenging a law that required websites to age-verify every internet user before providing access to material that could be deemed “harmful to minors.”
Press Release: First Amendment Lawsuit Challenges Louisiana’s Online Age-Verification Law
Booksellers and publishers filed a federal lawsuit challenging a new Louisiana law that requires websites to age-verify every Internet user before providing access to non-obscene material that could be deemed harmful to any minor.
Antigone Books v. Brnovich
The U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona permanently ordered state prosecutors to halt enforcement of a law that criminalizes the distribution of a nude photo without the consent of the person depicted. The order approved a joint final settlement between the parties.
Press Release: Judge Halts Enforcement of Unconstitutional Nude Photo Law in Arizona
A federal court today permanently ordered Arizona state prosecutors to halt enforcement of a 2014 law restricting the display of nude images.
Press Release: Prosecutors Will Not Enforce Arizona Anti-Nudity Law Pending Legislative Session, Lawsuit on Hold
CONTACT: David Horowitz, Media Coalition | 212-587-4025 x3 | horowitz@mediacoalition.org Josh Bell, ACLU national | 212-549-2666 | media@aclu.org Steve Kilar, ACLU of Arizona | 602-773-6007 | skilar@acluaz.org FOR...
Antigone Books v. Horne: Frequently Asked Questions
Some of our members, media organizations and local booksellers have filed a lawsuit challenging Arizona House Bill 2515, a law that criminalizes the distribution or disclosure of nude images without the consent of the person in the image. The lawsuit argues that H.B. 2515 violates the First Amendment because it criminalizes the distribution of constitutionally protected material.
Press Release: Arizona Criminal Law Banning Nude Images Violates First Amendment
A broad coalition of bookstores, newspapers, photographers, publishers and librarians filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging a new Arizona law that criminalizes speech protected by the First Amendment.
Press Release: State Concedes Law Restricting Marijuana Magazines is Unconstitutional and Agrees to Permanently Block Enforcement
The State of Colorado joined plaintiffs’ attorneys today in asking a federal judge to declare Colorado’s restrictions on marijuana-related magazines unconstitutional and to enter a permanent order blocking their implementation and enforcement.
Press Release: Bookstores, Newsstands and Bookseller Organizations Challenge Law Violating their First Amendment Rights and those of their Customers
Bookstores, newsstands and two bookseller organizations filed suit yesterday to block enforcement of a law that violates the First Amendment rights of retailers to display magazines that focus on marijuana and their customers’ right to browse those publications.
Tattered Cover, Inc. v. Brohl
The U.S. District Court struck down a Colorado law restricting the display of magazines whose focus is marijuana or the marijuana business.
Florence v. Shurtleff
The State of Utah agreed to a stipulated order that limited the scope of the state’s Internet “harmful to minors” law so that it does not apply to the posting of “harmful to minors” content on generally accessible websites.
American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression v. Sullivan
The U.S. District Court struck down Alaska’s application of its “harmful to minors” law to electronically transmitted speech and the state’s “harmful to minors” law, declaring both an unconstitutional restriction on the free speech rights of adults.
American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression v. Coakley
The U.S. District Court found that a Massachusetts law that criminalized any electronic distribution of “harmful to minors” material was likely unconstitutional.
Powell’s Books, Inc. v. Kroger
The 9th Circuit struck down the Oregon statute barring the dissemination of sexual material to minors that does not follow the test in Miller/Ginsberg.
American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression v. Strickland
The 6th Circuit upheld Ohio’s “harmful to minors” Internet statute after the Ohio Supreme Court narrowed it so that it does not apply to websites, listservs or public chatrooms and is limited to “personally directed” communications. In the initial part of the lawsuit, the U.S. District Court struck down a provision in the law that included depictions or descriptions of violence to the definition of “harmful to minors.”
Big Hat Books v. Prosecutors
The U.S. District Court ruled that an Indiana law imposing a license fee on retailers carrying any sexually explicit material was an unconstitutional tax on such material, content-based restriction and license on the retailer.
Southeast Booksellers Association v. McMaster
The U.S. District Court struck down a South Carolina law applying the state’s existing “harmful to minors” statute to the Internet.
Shipley, Inc. v. Long
The U.S. District court struck down a provision in an Arkansas law that required retailers to segregate and use blinders for materials “harmful to minors.”
Athenaco, Ltd. v. Cox
The U.S. District Court upheld Michigan’s law restricting the display of materials harmful to minors but clarified that the law only applies publications that have “harmful to minors” material on their covers or spines.
American Civil Liberties Union v. Goddard
The U.S. District Court ruled that Arizona’s “harmful to minors” statute as applied to the Internet is unconstitutional.
PSINet, Inc. v. Chapman
The 4th Circuit found that a Virginia law amending the state’s existing “harmful to juveniles” law to impose restrictions on Internet content was invalid under both the First Amendment and the Commerce Clause.
