Books Back

Little v Llano County addressed the removal of books from a public library, producing three opinions and a judgment affirming a preliminary injunction against the removal. The two judges voting to affirm focused on Circuit precedent, Campbell v. St. Tammany Parish School Board, 64 F.3d 184 (5th Cir. 1995), and its statement:

“that officials may not ‘remove books from school library shelves “simply because they dislike the ideas contained in those books and seek by their removal to `prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion.'”

(cleaned up). The case also appears to present the first use of the phrase “butt and fart” (a shorthand for one set of the books at issue) in a three-opinion panel case. No. 23-50224 (June 6, 2024).