Idaho’s ‘Harm to Minors’ Book Ban Law Troubles Ninth Circuit

A panel of federal appeals court judges at oral arguments Monday appeared to doubt the constitutionality of an Idaho law prohibiting independent schools from using books the state deems “harmful to minors.”

Judge Milan D. Smith of the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit said he was “troubled” by of the law’s enforcement mechanism that allows any parent to sue the school or librarian over a book with content the parents believe is obscene.

If a parent objects to a book because of a specific obscene word or description, the school has 30 days to decide whether to ...