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Texas residents are suing their county after books were removed and library board dissolved

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Texas residents are suing their county after books were removed and library board dissolved


This county of 21,000 individuals within the Texas Hill Nation is now a part of the rising variety of communities in america the place conservative teams and people have pushed to manage what titles individuals have entry to and singled out books that take care of race, gender or sexuality.

The lawsuit, filed Monday in US District Court docket for the Western District of Texas in San Antonio, claims county officers eliminated books from the cabinets of the three-branch public library system “as a result of they disagree with the concepts inside them” and terminated entry to hundreds of digital books as a result of they may not ban two particular titles.

“Public libraries usually are not locations of presidency indoctrination. They don’t seem to be locations the place the individuals in energy can dictate what their residents are permitted to examine and study. When authorities actors goal public library books as a result of they disagree with and intend to suppress the concepts contained inside them, it jeopardizes the freedoms of everybody,” the lawsuit states.

Llano County Choose Ron Cunningham, county commissioners Jerry Don Moss, Peter Jones, and Linda Raschke; library system director Amber Milum and 4 members of the Llano County library board, Bonnie Wallace, Rochelle Wells, Rhonda Schneider, and Homosexual Baskin, are named as co-defendants within the case. They didn’t reply to CNN requests for remark. Llano County commissioner Mike Sandoval, who can also be named as a defendant within the swimsuit, declined to remark.

Within the lawsuit, Leila Inexperienced Little, a mom who lives in Llano County, and the opposite six plaintiffs argue that county officers eliminated a number of youngsters’s books final August in response to complaints from a gaggle of group members who described them as inappropriate. These titles embrace “Within the Night time Kitchen” by Maurice Sendak and “It is Completely Regular: Altering Our bodies, Rising Up, Intercourse, and Sexual Well being” by Robie H. Harris.

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Months later, Texas Rep. Matt Krause launched an inquiry into whether or not 850 books on the topics of race or intercourse that may “make college students really feel discomfort” have been in public college libraries and school rooms. The lawsuit says Wallace ultimately despatched a spreadsheet with the books from that checklist that have been obtainable in Llano County library’s assortment.

In an electronic mail to Cunningham and others, Wallace requested “all of the pastors to become involved on this. Maybe they will arrange a weekly prayer vigil on this particular subject. … Could God shield our kids from this FILTH,” the swimsuit alleges.

Some books in Wallace’s spreadsheet have been faraway from library cabinets, together with “Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents” by Isabel Wilkerson, “They Referred to as Themselves the Okay.Okay.Okay.: The Start of an American Terrorist Group” by Susan Campbell Bartoletti and “Being Jazz: My Life as a (Transgender) Teen” by Jazz Jennings, the lawsuit says. Wallace was later appointed as vice chair of the library board.

The lawsuit alleges the county suspended entry to e-books as a result of they “have been unable to take away two Krause Record books that offended their politics and private sensibilities,” dissolved its current library board and appointed Wallace and others who pushed for e-book removals, and closed the advisory board conferences to the general public.

Inexperienced Little, one of many residents who introduced the lawsuit, beforehand instructed CNN her group of anti-censorship residents attended county conferences, wrote letters to officers and requested public information in efforts to “cease the censorship.”

Along with attorneys’ charges and a court docket order declaring that the defendants violated their constitutional rights, the lawsuit seeks an injunction tailor-made “to finish Defendants’ efforts to monopolize {the marketplace} of concepts, and to make sure that as soon as once more there’ll ‘be the fullest practicable provision of fabric presenting all factors of view in regards to the issues and problems with our occasions,’ for all Llano County library patrons.”

The potential influence

Shirley Robinson, government director of the Texas Library Affiliation, stated she hopes the lawsuit conjures up individuals in different communities to talk up.

“It’s a disgrace that this pointless tradition struggle has led to this, however we applaud the efforts of those people to make the most of the justice system to talk up and say with a transparent voice ‘sufficient is sufficient,’” Robinson stated. “We did not ask for this combat, however we’re definitely not going to put down and let subjective opinion and politics prohibit the liberty to learn.”

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In a current evaluation, PEN America, a literary and free expression advocacy group, discovered that 1,145 books have been banned in communities throughout america from July 1, 2021, to March 31, 2022. The vast majority of these bans concerned departures from finest practices established by Nationwide Coalition In opposition to Censorship (NCAC) and the American Library Affiliation relating to how books and tutorial supplies ought to be challenged in faculties and libraries, the group stated.

For Jonathan Friedman, director of PEN America’s Free Expression and Schooling program, the lawsuit in Llano County may have a major influence on the present local weather and function a reminder of the constitutional protections that folks across the nation have.

Friedman instructed CNN there was “a sort of abrogation of responsibility” to uphold the First Modification and there was “little or no resistance” from officers when there are calls for to take away supplies from college or public libraries.

“Whether or not that is within the college board or whether or not that is in a library, any individual desires one thing gone and it seems to be going. At their conferences, there isn’t any resistance, there isn’t any friction, there isn’t any one in a few of these rooms saying ‘effectively, maintain on a minute, let’s ensure we train due diligence, due course of, take into account the sort of range of opinions as individuals who our establishment serves,’” Friedman stated.



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TCU Volleyball Dominates Texas Tech on Senior Night

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TCU Volleyball Dominates Texas Tech on Senior Night


A common theme for No. 22 TCU has been their complete dominance on their home floor this season. The Horned Frogs finished the year 14-1 at Schollmaier Arena. On Friday night, in front of over 3,000 fans, TCU swept Texas Tech (25-14, 26-24, 25-11).

The four seniors honored by TCU were Melanie Parra, Cecily Bramschreiber, Stephanie Young and Ashlyn Bourland. All four players found ways to contribute as Parra finished with 14 kills and seven digs. Bramschreiber filled up the stat sheet with four kills, four aces and seven digs. Both Young and Bourland got an ace.

Both teams traded points in the early going, but Bramschreiber sparked a 7-2 run to give the Frogs a 16-9 lead. TCU hit .417 in the first set and dominated the first set capped off by a Becca Kelley ace.

In set two, Texas Tech made things much closer jumping out to a 8-5 lead. A 4-0 run from TCU put them back in front. This set included multiple runs and it was Tech that got it to set point leading 24-22. TCU was able to end the set on a 4-0 run courtesy of kills from Jalyn Gibson and Parra paired with aces from Bramschreiber.

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Trying to keeps things alive, TCU wasn’t met with much resistance from the Red Raiders in the third set. The Frogs kept up the pressure with multiple runs to build a massive 17-8 lead. Bourland picked up her first career ace and an attack error ended things.

It was a fun night for the seniors that played in front of the TCU crowd for the last time. The 14 wins at home tied the school record for most wins at home in a single season. They also picked up the most wins in a season since 2015. What Jason Williams has done for this program in such a short time has been remarkable to watch.

The Frogs move to 19-7 overall 11-5 in conference. They still are fifth in the Big 12 standings with two games to go. They will travel to Morgantown on Wednesday to take on West Virginia at 6 p.m. and then to Cincinnati on Friday at 1 p.m.

Want to join the discussion? Click here to become a member of the Killer Frogs message board community today!

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Texas AG sues Dallas for decriminalizing marijuana

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Texas AG sues Dallas for decriminalizing marijuana


Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced a lawsuit Thursday targeting the blue city of Dallas over a ballot measure that decriminalizes marijuana.

Paxton alleges that Proposition R, which “prohibits the Dallas Police Department from making arrests or issuing citations for marijuana possession or considering the odor of marijuana as probable cause for search or seizure,” violates state law.

The attorney general argues in the lawsuit that the ballot measure is preempted by Texas law, which criminalizes the possession and distribution of marijuana. Paxton also claims the Texas Constitution prohibits municipalities from adopting an ordinance that conflicts with laws enacted by the state legislature.

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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks outside the U.S. Supreme Court on November 01, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

“Cities cannot pick and choose which State laws they follow,” Paxton said in a statement. “The City of Dallas has no authority to override Texas drug laws or prohibit the police from enforcing them.”

Paxton called the ballot measure “a backdoor attempt to violate the Texas Constitution” and threatened to sue any other city that “tries to constrain police in this fashion.” 

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A flower bud of marijuana.  (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit, File)

The lawsuit comes after interim Dallas Police Department Chief Michael Igo directed Dallas police officers not to enforce marijuana laws against those found to be in possession of less than 4 ounces. 

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Ground Game Texas, a progressive nonprofit group that campaigned in favor of the ballot measure, argued it would help “keep people out of jail for marijuana possession,” “reduce racially biased policing” and “save millions in public funding.” 

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marijuana plant

A mature marijuana plant begins to bloom under artificial lights at Loving Kindness Farms in Gardena, Calif., May 20, 2019. Paxton has sued the city of Dallas over a ballot measure that decriminalized possession of small amounts of marijuana.  (AP Photo/Richard Vogel)

“It’s unfortunate but not surprising that Attorney General Ken Paxton has apparently chosen to waste everyone’s time and money by filing yet another baseless lawsuit against marijuana decriminalization,” said Catina Voellinger, executive director for Ground Game Texas.

“Judges in Travis and Hays counties have already dismissed identical lawsuits filed there. The Dallas Freedom Act was overwhelmingly approved by 67% of voters — this is democracy in action.”

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Since January 2024, Paxton has filed lawsuits against five Texas cities that decriminalized marijuana possession, arguing these policies promote crime, drug abuse and violence. 



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Tre Johnson, Texas Longhorns Scrape Past Saint Joseph’s to Win Legends Classic

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Tre Johnson, Texas Longhorns Scrape Past Saint Joseph’s to Win Legends Classic


The Texas Longhorns are heading back to Austin with some early-season tournament hardware in hand.

Tre Johnson battled through another poor shooting night but closed the game out for Texas once again, scoring a game-high 17 points to lead the Longhorns to a 67-58 win over Saint Joseph’s at the Legends Classic championship round in Brooklyn Friday night.

Transfer guard Julian Larry sparked the Longhorns late, scoring all 12 of his points in the second half. Arthur Kaluma added 14 points, four rebounds and four assists while Kadin Shedrick had 10 points and six rebounds.

The Hawks were led by Rasheer Fleming, who stuffed the stat sheet with 16 points, 20 rebounds, three assists, two blocks and three steals. Xzayvier Brown added 15 points on 4 of 7 shooting.

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The Longhorns jumped out to an 11-6 lead after seven early points from Kaluma. St. Joe’s started out cold from the field but controlled the game with hard-nosed defense and the occasional press while dominating the offensive glass. This was highlighted by a possession where the Hawks got four consecutive offensive rebounds but only scored one point as a result.

Johnson stayed aggressive on offense for Texas but was off on his shot and was impacted by the on-ball defense of St. Joe’s.

Mark, Pope and Johnson all hit a triple for Texas in about a two-minute span ahead of halftime to give the Longhorns their biggest lead at 32-26 but the Hawks responded with a free throw from Haskins 3-pointer from Brown before halftime to cut the lead to 32-30.

The defense from the Hawks ramped up even more, as the Longhorns were stuck in the mud on offense and had little to no ball movement. St. Joe’s was hardly much better, but its defense continued to set the tone and eventually swung the momentum.

Larry then hit back-to-back triples as the two teams traded buckets on five straight possessions. Consecutive dunks from Ajogbor and Fleming but the Hawks in front 50-46 with 8:25 to play, but Larry continued to take over. He hit 1,000 career points with a driving layup before finding Kaluma for a corner triple to put Texas back in front at 51-50.

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It didn’t stop there for Larry, who found a cutting Shedrick for a dunk before diving on a loose ball down at the other end to secure possession for Texas, which had built a 55-52 lead with 3:13 left. The Longhorns used the momentum to put together an 8-0 run, which essentially sealed the win in a game where scoring felt hard to come by.

Johnson then closed the game out with six points in the final 4:11 of action, including a pullup jumper at the foul line to put Texas up 63-55 with 1:19 left.

Texas will host Delaware State on Nov. 29.

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Other Texas Longhorns News:

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