Judge strikes down law that could charge librarians
A Republican-backed Arkansas law allowing criminal charges to be pressed against librarians and booksellers for providing "harmful" or "obscene" materials to minors was blocked by a federal judge in a Monday ruling that declared some elements of the policy too vague and unconstitutional. "The law deputizes librarians and booksellers as the agents of censorship; when motivated by the fear of jail time, it is likely they will shelve only books fit for young children and segregate or discard the rest," U.S. District Judge Timothy Brooks of the Western District of Arkansas wrote in his ruling. Act 372, signed by Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders last year, would have established new avenues for challenging allegedly age-inappropriate library materials and requesting their removal. Grant Shostak, Visiting Assistant Professor at Webster University, joined LiveNOW from FOX to discuss.