A federal judge has ruled that a group of bestselling authors can continue their lawsuit aimed at overturning Utah’s book ban law, which has put some of their books out of reach of public school students.
U.S. District Judge Robert Shelby on Tuesday determined the authors had legal standing to sue, denying parts of the state’s motion to dismiss the case. The order effectively clears a path for the lawsuit to move forward.
The lawsuit, filed in Utah District Court in January, alleges the state’s sweeping school book bans violate the First Amendment and cause the plaintiff authors “personal” and “professional” harm.
In Utah, a book must be removed from all public schools if at least three school districts (or at least two districts and five charter schools) determine it amounts to “objective sensitive material” that meets state definitions for pornographic or otherwise indecent content.
So far, 37 titles have been banned from schools statewide under the 2024 law.
Read the full article by Jordan Miller at sltrib.com.
This article is published through the Utah News Collaborative, a partnership of news organizations in Utah that aims to inform readers across the state.