Arkansas is temporarily blocked from enforcing a law that would have allowed criminal charges against librarians and booksellers for providing “harmful” materials to minors, a federal judge ruled on Saturday.
US district judge Timothy L Brooks issued a preliminary injunction against the law, which also would have created a new process to challenge library materials and request that they be relocated to areas not accessible by kids. The measure, signed by the state’s Republican governor, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, earlier this year, was set to take effect on 1 August.
A coalition that included the Central Arkansas Library System (CALS) in Little Rock had challenged the law, saying fear of prosecution under the measure could prompt libraries and booksellers to no longer carry titles that could be challenged.
The judge also rejected a motion by the defendants, which include prosecuting attorneys for the state, seeking to dismiss the case.
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The ACLU of Arkansas, which represents some of the plaintiffs, applauded the court’s ruling, saying that the absence of a preliminary injunction would have jeopardized the free speech rights enshrined in the US constitution’s first amendment.
“The question we had to ask was – do Arkansans still legally have access to reading materials?” Holly Dickson, the executive director of the ACLU in Arkansas, said in a statement. “Luckily, the judicial system has once again defended our highly valued liberties.”
The lawsuit comes as lawmakers in an increasing number of conservative states are pushing for measures making it easier to ban or restrict access to books. The number of attempts to ban or restrict books across the US last year was the highest in the 20 years the American Library Association has been tracking such efforts.
Laws restricting access to certain materials or making it easier to challenge them have been enacted in several other states, including Iowa, Indiana and Texas.
Arkansas’s attorney general, Tim Griffin, said in an email on Saturday that his office would be “reviewing the judge’s opinion and will continue to vigorously defend the law”.
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The executive director of the Central Arkansas Library System, Nate Coulter, said the judge’s 49-page decision recognized the law as censorship, a constitutional violation and wrongly maligning librarians.
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“As folks in south-west Arkansas say, this order is stout as horseradish!” he said in an email. He added: “I’m relieved that for now the dark cloud that was hanging over CALS’ librarians has lifted.”
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The lawsuit which produced Brooks’s injunction names the state’s 28 local prosecutors as defendants, along with Crawford county in west Arkansas.
A separate lawsuit is challenging the Crawford library’s decision to move children’s books that included LGBTQ+ themes to a separate portion of the library.
On a bitter afternoon in Kansas City, Missouri, the No. 19 Arkansas Razorbacks (5-2) were defeated by the Illinois Fighting Illini (6-1), 90-77, inside the T-Mobile Center.
Right out of the gates, Arkansas’ lack of physicality and focus was noticable. Not only did that result in 11 total turnovers throughout the contest, but the Razorbacks couldn’t stop the Illini from finishing white-hot from distance (15-of-31 from three), either.
Leading the Hogs was forward Adou Thiero, who racked up 26 points, six rebounds, an assist and a steal. 12 of his points came from the charity stripe, where he shot 21 attempts in total.
Below are social media reactions from fans and media throughout the Hoop Hogs’ non-conference loss:
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -— If Taylen Green and Luke Hasz needed more motivation going into his first Battle Line Rivalry game this Saturday, then being ticked off at Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz for blatantly butchering their names should do it.
Green’s name isn’t hard to pronounce given it sounds just like it looks Tay-Len, not Tal-On as Drinkwitz said. It’s obvious that Missouri’s coach knows exactly what he’s doing given his antics over the previous four seasons that get under other SEC fanbase’s and coaches skin.
The Boise State transfer has shown himself to be a playmaker when he can take care of the ball. Green has recorded 3,052 yards of total offense and 20 touchdowns this season and could make a statement with a clean performance and victory at Missouri.
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Not seen in the short clip is a few seconds later Drinkwitz saying Luke Hasz’ name as “Halls” which is totally off and a pronunciation most haven’t heard. It’s the small things like this which Missouri’s coach is allowed to get away with by most conference members.
Nearly 20 years ago, former LSU coach Les Miles had an infamous press conference as he was being courted by Michigan to be its next coach in 2007. The Tigers were No. 1 in the nation with a 10-1 record overall going up against 7-4 Arkansas.
As he was being asked about the Michigan noise, Miles assured media and fans that he was focused as LSU’s head coach and playing its rival “Ar-Kansas” that Black Friday.
Arkansas coach Houston Nutt used the soundbite above as motivation for his team that day as the Razorbacks pulled out a memorable 50-48 triple overtime victory which was thought to end LSU’s title hopes. Two-time Heisman runner up Darren McFadden had one of his finest performances in one of the Hogs’ greatest wins in program history with 206 yards rushing and four total touchdowns.
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Immediately after the game, Nutt and McFadden met with CBS sideline reporter Tracy Wolfson to celebrate their monumental upset. The Razorbacks’ coach embraced his star running back and proclaimed him as the best player in the country. The proud Little Rock native responded with a correction of Miles stating “It ain’t Ar-Kansas, it’s Arkansas, baby!”
For the sake of talking about one of the most memorable Arkansas games of all-time, it would be shameful to not at least include highlights of McFadden’s epic performance. That game ended an era as Nutt resigned and moved onto Ole Miss where he spent his next four seasons before becoming an analyst for CBS Sports.
Darren McFadden’s Heisman like performance vs #1 LSU in Death Valley 🐐 (2007) pic.twitter.com/ON2IP0ech5
The Tigers ended up winning the SEC Championship with several other teams ranked ahead losing to regain a spot in the national title game, ultimately winning it. On that fateful day, it was all about the Razorbacks who brought the wood and beat LSU without doubt similar to what Green could do in response to Drinkwitz.
“That’s how you pronounce it. It ain’t Ta-Lon or Halls, it’s Taylen and Hasz, baby.”
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Arkansas Razorbacks (5-1) vs. Illinois Fighting Illini (5-1)
Kansas City, Missouri; Thursday, 4 p.m. EST
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BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Fighting Illini -2.5; over/under is 154
BOTTOM LINE: Illinois plays No. 19 Arkansas in Kansas City, Missouri.
The Fighting Illini are 5-1 in non-conference play. Illinois leads the Big Ten in rebounding, averaging 46.3 boards. Tomislav Ivisic leads the Fighting Illini with 8.7 rebounds.
The Razorbacks are 5-1 in non-conference play. Arkansas averages 12.5 turnovers per game and is 4-0 when turning the ball over less than opponents.
Illinois scores 89.0 points, 29.8 more per game than the 59.2 Arkansas allows. Arkansas averages 8.3 made 3-pointers per game this season, 2.8 more made shots on average than the 5.5 per game Illinois gives up.
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TOP PERFORMERS: Will Riley is scoring 17.2 points per game and averaging 5.3 rebounds for the Fighting Illini.
Boogie Fland is shooting 48.1% from beyond the arc with 2.2 made 3-pointers per game for the Razorbacks, while averaging 17.2 points, 5.5 assists and 2.2 steals.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
