MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WDNews) — Steve Marshall has joined a 21-state coalition of attorneys general in filing an amicus brief supporting Florida’s law aimed at preventing sexually graphic materials from being made available in public-school libraries.
The brief was filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit after a federal district court in Florida ruled the law likely violates the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment and blocked the state from enforcing it.
According to the coalition, decisions about what materials are placed in public-school libraries fall under “government speech” and do not require schools to provide sexually explicit content to K-12 students.
“It should be common sense that the First Amendment does not require public schools to fill their library shelves with graphic books depicting sex acts,” Marshall said. “But we are at the point where such commonsense interpretations have to be spelled out in legal briefs, so we are proud to help Florida defends its law and we call on the Eleventh Circuit to quickly correct the decision of the district court.”
The states argue that public schools retain authority over age-appropriate educational materials and that the Constitution does not mandate access to explicit content for minors.
The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals is expected to review the case in the coming months.
