“Although libraries are afforded great discretion for their selection and acquisition decisions, the First Amendment prohibits the removal of books from libraries based on either viewpoint or content discrimination,” CNN quoted Pitman as saying.Defendants in the case, which includes library staff, a judge and country commissioners, argued the books were removed as part of a regular “weeding” process. Pitman, however, disagreed with this and stated that outsiders had influenced decisions over removal of the books. He said: “Whether or not the books in fact qualified for ‘weeding’ under the library’s existing policies, there is no real question that the targeted review was directly prompted by complaints from patrons and county officials over the contents of these titles.“And, notably, there is no evidence that any of the books were slated to be reviewed for weeding prior to the receipt of these complaints; to the contrary, many other books eligible for weeding based on the same factors appear to have remained on the shelves for many years.”
Source: Texas judge orders LGBTQ book ban titles returned to shelves
