Federal Court Declares Texas Book-Rating Law Unconstitutional Again

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AUSTIN (KXAN) — The protracted legal dispute over a contentious Texas law appears to be nearing its conclusion after a federal judge ruled on Tuesday that the legislation is unconstitutional. This decision, consistent with previous findings by an appeals court, marks the third instance where the law has been struck down by federal courts.

The legislation in question, known as House Bill 900 or the “Restricting Explicit and Adult-Designated Educational Resources Act,” was introduced in 2023. It aimed to mandate book vendors to assign content ratings to their publications. Additionally, it granted the Texas Education Agency the authority to override those ratings, with non-compliance resulting in the books’ removal from school libraries.

Unless Texas decides to take the matter to the U.S. Supreme Court, this ruling represents the final significant development in the legal proceedings.

In a related note, research from Florida suggests that cellphone bans in schools contribute to improved test scores.

Back in September 2023, U.S. District Court Judge Alan D. Albright had already deemed the law likely unconstitutional, leading to a temporary injunction against its enforcement.

Texas subsequently challenged the ruling, prompting the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals to lift the injunction while the case was under review. However, in January 2024, the appellate court upheld the lower court’s decision, affirming the unconstitutionality of HB 900 and preventing Texas from enforcing the legislation.

While he agreed with the state that there is a compelling interest in regulating what content children can access, he wrote that HB 900’s “methods are not the way to further that interest.”

“The Court agrees with Defendant’s premise that Texas has an interest in safeguarding children against sexually explicit material—especially materials purchased with public funds for public schools,” Albright wrote. “Even though the interest Defendant points to is a good and noble one, that does not outweigh the fact that READER tries to serve that goal in an unconstitutional way.”

He also said that the plaintiffs were correct in asserting that HB 900 was “unconstitutional as it compels speech, is void for vagueness, and is an unconstitutional prior restraint.” The ruling didn’t give plaintiffs their request for an injunction against HB 183, which allows parents to review library materials and lodge complaints with schools.

“Even though HB 183 incorporates some of the same language from READER to categorize books, it does not function the same way that READER would,” the order states.