Fifth Circuit Says No Right to Fight Library Book Removals (1)

A federal appeals court ruled that a public librarian’s decision to pull certain books off the shelves can’t be challenged under the First Amendment, a ruling that could jeopardize other cases over book restrictions in libraries.

A divided en banc US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit found Friday that parties behind the challenge couldn’t invoke a First Amendment right to receive information to challenge a library’s removal of books. The court’s opinion also said a library’s collection is government speech and can’t be challenged under the First Amendment’s Free Speech Clause, although a majority of judges didn’t endorse ...