The Daily Populous Sunday August 17th, 2025 morning edition
Authored by denver7.com and submitted by AudibleNod

A federal judge has struck down key parts of a Florida law that helped parents get books they found objectionable removed from public school libraries and classrooms. It is a victory for publishers and authors who had sued after their books were removed.

U.S. District Judge Carlos Mendoza in Orlando said in Wednesday's ruling that the statute's prohibition on material that described sexual conduct was overbroad.

Mendoza, who was appointed by President Barack Obama, also said that the state's interpretation of the 2023 law was unconstitutional.

Among the books that had been removed from central Florida schools were classics like Margaret Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale," Richard Wright's "Native Son" and Kurt Vonnegut's "Slaughterhouse-Five."

"Historically, librarians curate their collections based on their sound discretion not based on decrees from on high," the judge said. "There is also evidence that the statute has swept up more non-obscene books than just the ones referenced here."

After the Republican-controlled Florida Legislature passed the law, school officials worried that any sexual content was questionable, a belief that was enforced by new state training that urged librarians to err on the side of caution. Last year, Florida led the nation with 4,500 removals of school books.

RELATED STORY | Actress Julianne Moore says Trump administration banned her children's book in schools

Under the judge's ruling, schools should revert back to a U.S. Supreme Court precedent in which the test is whether an average person would find the work prurient as a whole; whether it depicts sexual content in an offensive way; and whether the work lacks literary, artistic, political or scientific value.

The lawsuit was brought by some of the nation's largest book publishers and some of the authors whose books had been removed from central Florida school libraries, as well as the parents of schoolchildren who tried to access books that were removed.

The author plaintiffs included Angie Thomas, author of "The Hate U Give"; Jodi Picoult, author of "My Sister's Keeper"; John Green, author of "The Fault in Our Stars"; and Julia Alvarez, author of "How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents." The publisher plaintiffs included Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins Publishers, Macmillan Publishing and Simon and Schuster.

Klynikal on August 16th, 2025 at 22:43 UTC »

But I thought the left were banning shit?!

Which side is banning free speech?

Which side is banning books?

> According to data collected by PEN America, Republican-led states banned more than 1,000 books from fall 2021 through March of 2022.

Which side is all about controlling what women can and cannot do with their bodies?

Which side is all about controlling what you can and cannot learn in school?

Which side claims to love free speech yet constantly calls for boycotts of companies because they did or said something that hurt their feelings?

Which side claims to love free speech but wants MSNBC to force Rachel Maddow and Nicolle Wallace to resign?

Which side claims to love free speech yet has banned AP News from the Oval Office and Air Force One for hurting Trump's feelings by simply saying "Gulf of Mexico"?

Which side is telling women what they can and cannot wear?

Which side is banning kids talking about their periods?

Which side wants to literally ban the other?

Which side has made kidnapping children legal?

Which side has made denying healthcare based on moral, ethical or religious beliefs legal?

Which side wants to hunt the other "like dogs"?

Which side claims to let people live their lives how they want yet has filed over 600 anti-trans bills?

Which side wants to force children to pray and read the Bible in school?

Which side LOVES suppressing someone's right to vote?

Which side wants to criminalize porn and sentence offenders to 20 years in jail because porn "violates the holy character of God"?

Which side wants to register teachers as sex offenders if they use the preferred pronouns and support people and their identities?

Which side has ruled that priests CANNOT be sued for child sex abuse?

Which side has given an anti-trans AG the right to invade the privacy of trans people?

Which side voted AGAINST removing the statute of limitations on cases of child sexual abuse from years ago, disallowing those victims to sue?

Which side wants to ban people from wearing face masks, including cancer patients?

Which side wants to take away access to contraceptives?

Which side has blocked a federal right to contraceptives?

Which side has said "Kill them! Some folks need killing!" whilst talking to an audience in a church in regards to liberals?

Which side has teamed up with Libs of TikTok (fucking LOL) to hunt down school teachers that made fun of Trump in order to fire them?

Which side has instructed residents to write down the addresses of people with Harris/Walz signs in their yards?

Which side tried to manufacture fake terrorists to bolster Trump's chances of re-election?

Which side is trying to pass a law that would disqualify millions of women from voting if their maiden name on their birth certificate and married name on their ID (seriously, what the fuck?) don't match?

Which side installed a fucking "viewing window" in a kids' toilet at a school?

Which side hates the First Amendment?

Which side signed a bill into law charging people $750 for police body camera footage, essentially pricing people out of potentially clearing their name?

Which side has asked the Supreme Court to end same-sex marriage nationwide?

Which side said "But the fact that they don't want us to take them over makes me want to invade. I want to quench my imperialist thirst" and "Canadians should see it as a privilege to be taken over by the United States" in regards to Canada?

Which side has sent a case to the Supreme Court claiming Obamacare promotes “homosexual behavior”?

Which side that claims to be the party small government (lol) wants to criminalize porn, ban drag story hour and ban no-fault divorce?

Which side wants to shit all over the constitution, yet again, by proposing an amendment to enable Trump to serve a third term?

Which side voted AGAINST strengthening anti-child marriage laws in Missouri? Saying: "Do you know any kids who have been married at age 12? I do. And guess what? They’re still married".

Which side terminated a contract that was in the process of transferring evidence of alleged Russian abductions of Ukrainian children - a potential war crime - to law enforcement officials in Europe?

Which side removed the page of Charles Rogers - a black Vietnam war veteran and Medal of Honor recipient who was wounded three times during the defense of a base - from the US Department of Defense website, and also changed the 404 URL to include "DEIMedal"?

Which side, famous for being the "party of small government", wants you to upload a photo of your passport if you want to buy a sex toy?

Which side wants staff to report other staff for "anti-Christian" rhetoric?

HobbesNJ on August 16th, 2025 at 22:25 UTC »

But the books are already gone. Many won't be replaced.

Which is why they do this stuff even though they know it will often get overturned.

redthump on August 16th, 2025 at 22:23 UTC »

Good. Florida needs to learn to read more.