Florida judge strikes down state law used to ban books: 'None of these books are obscene'

A judge in Florida has sided with authors and publishers in a lawsuit against the state's book ban, determining that the law violates free speech protections.

Judge Carlos Mendoza of the U.S. Middle District Court of Florida ruled Wednesday that "the removal of many of these books [is] unconstitutional," noting that "many are classics, modern award winners, and tested on AP exams."

"None of these books are obscene," Mendoza wrote. "The restrictions placed on these books are thus unreasonable in light of the purpose of school libraries. And if so, the presence of these books in school libraries certainly does not materially and substantially disrupt the work and discipline of the school."

The Florida state legislature passed HB 1069 in 2023, expanding the state's "Don't Say Gay" bill that prohibits discussion of LGBTQ+ identities from kindergarten to high school. The bill also required that schools remove books that contain “sexual content" — a benchmark that was disproportionately applied to materials containing themes about race, gender, or sexuality.

Penguin Random House, PEN America, the Authors Guild, and parents in the Escambia County School District filed a lawsuit against the bill, asserting that it violated the First Amendment as well as the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. They were joined by five authors whose books were removed from school libraries or challenged; Sarah Brannen (Uncle Bobby’s Wedding), George Johnson (All Boys Aren’t Blue), David Levithan (Two Boys Kissing), Kyle Lukoff (When Aidan Became a Brother and Too Bright to See), and Ashley Hope Pérez (Out of Darkness).

Mendoza said in his ruling that the ban on material which "describes sexual conduct" is too broad, as the benchmark "does not evaluate the work to determine if it has any holistic value." He also noted that "the statute does not specify what level of detail 'describes sexual conduct,'" and could be applied to vague phrases such as “spent the night together” or “made love.” Mendoza's reasoning was not far from reality, as schools in the state have used the law to censor Shakespeare and even the dictionary.

School libraries in Florida must now rely on the Miller Test to determine if a material qualifies as "obscene," which was used before the passage of the law. The test, established in the 1973 Miller v. California Supreme Court decision, defines obscenity as material that "appeal[s] to prurient interests as judged by the average person; depict[s] sexual conduct in a patently offensive manner; and lack[s] serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value."

“This victory affirms what we’ve always known—that literature has the power to expand worlds, foster empathy, and help young people understand themselves and their experiences,” Mary Rasenberger, CEO of the Authors Guild, said in a statement. “Book bans don’t just censor words on a page; they silence authors’ lived experiences and deny students access to the stories that help them navigate an increasingly complex world.”