Report: “Texas Book-Banning Law Gutted By Appeals Court in a Blow to State Republicans”

Key portions of a law signed last year by Gov. Greg Abbott requiring booksellers to rate books for sexual content when selling to schools will not go into effect after the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday declined to reconsider an earlier decision.

It’s a win for booksellers, especially independent ones, who sued the state last year, saying the law violated the First Amendment and would devastate their businesses. 

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The law would have required booksellers to rate all books for sexual content, block any future sales of “explicit” books to schools and review all past school sales to recall the newly banned material. Independent bookstores had warned that the requirement was unworkable and would be far too expensive to implement. 

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It’s not clear whether Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton will appeal the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court. The high court accepts only about 2% of requests to reconsider lower court decisions.