Another victory for the CBLDF and our co-plaintiffs in our lawsuit to strike down Texas HB900, a recently enacted law that seeks to impose a ratings system on books distributed to Texas schools. Proponents of this law expressly targeted graphic novels, and the ratings system would have effectively been a government-mandated successor to the notorious Comics Code.
As the court ruling below states, the law is unconstitutional on several counts.
- HB900’s mandatory ratings system is an unconstitutional attempt by the government to compel speech.
- The standards for assessing books in HB900 are unconstitutionally vague.
- HB900’s restrictions on distributing books impose an unconstitutional prior restraint.
Of course, there’s a strong likelihood that the state will appeal the ruling to the Fifth Circuit, but the Fifth Circuit did rule in our favor the last time the state tried to appeal the case.
Here’s the opinion, hot off the judicial press – we’ll have more information and analysis soon!
