{"id":244624,"date":"2025-05-17T04:12:20","date_gmt":"2025-05-17T04:12:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/alabama\/read-freely-alabama-cites-colorado-case-in-library-lawsuit\/"},"modified":"2025-05-17T04:12:20","modified_gmt":"2025-05-17T04:12:20","slug":"read-freely-alabama-cites-colorado-case-in-library-lawsuit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/?p=244624","title":{"rendered":"Read Freely Alabama cites Colorado case in library lawsuit"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Not much has happened in Read Freely Alabama\u2019s lawsuit against the Autauga-Prattville Public Library since the plaintiffs asked for a preliminary injunction in October.<\/p>\n<p>But the plaintiffs added a new filing last week, arguing that a decision in a similar 10th Circuit Court case in Colorado supports their request for a preliminary injunction against the library.<\/p>\n<p>In\u00a0<em>Crookshanks et al. v. Elizabeth School District,\u00a0<\/em>a federal judge granted a preliminary injunction to the plaintiffs who argued the school system had violated students\u2019 first amendment rights by removing books due to \u201csensitive\u201d and political topics.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn granting a preliminary injunction that prohibits the removal of library books, the <em>Crookshanks<\/em> court concluded that defendants\u2019 \u2018argument\u2014that its decisions as to the library contents are government speech immune from First Amendment scrutiny\u2014finds little support in the caselaw,&#8217;\u201d counsel for Read Freely wrote in a filing in the suit on May 8. \u201cThe court therefore \u2018reject[ed] the [defendant\u2019s] invitation to extend government-speech precedents . . . something the Supreme Court has expressly discouraged.\u2019 As the court explained, \u2018[n]o one would seriously argue that placing [Mein Kampf] in a school library constitutes government speech.<i>\u2018\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n<p>Int he summer of 2024, the Elizabeth School District formed a committee to review library collections for \u201csensitive\u201d materials on topics such as \u201cracism\/discrimination,\u201d \u201creligious viewpoints,\u201d \u201csexual content,\u201d \u201cprofanity\/obscenity,\u201d \u201cgraphic violence,\u201d and \u201cideations of self-harm or mental illness.\u201d More than 100 books were labeled sensitive, with parents being allowed to opt their children out of checking out those materials.<\/p>\n<p>But the school went further and decided to ban 19 books within its catalog.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese books were primarily by or about people of color and\/or LGBTQ+ people and award-winning novels that explore race, inequality, and the challenges of adolescence,\u201d an ACLU article on the case states.<\/p>\n<div class=\"code-block code-block-6\" style=\"margin: 8px auto; text-align: center; display: block; clear: both;\">\n<div class=\"zox-post-ad-wrap\"><span class=\"zox-ad-label\">Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Several of the books banned in Elizabeth School District\u2014<em>Looking for Alaska, The Bluest Eye, The Hate U Give\u00a0<\/em>among them\u2014are among the books removed in Prattville or targeted for removal statewide by groups like Clean Up Alabama and Moms for Liberty.<\/p>\n<p>In the case of the Eliabeth School District, the judge found that the motivation for the removal of the books is likely unconstitutional because officials removed the books because they \u201cdisagreed with the views expressed in the books and to further their preferred political orthodoxy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read Freely likewise argues that the policies passed at the Prattville library, and the books removed from shelves, were targeted in pursuit of political orthodoxy.<\/p>\n<p>Judge Myron Thompson is still weighing whether to grant a preliminary injunction in the case.<\/p>\n<p><!-- CONTENT END 1 -->\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Not much has happened in Read Freely Alabama\u2019s lawsuit against the Autauga-Prattville Public Library since the plaintiffs asked for a preliminary injunction in October. But the plaintiffs added a new filing last week, arguing that a decision in a similar 10th Circuit Court case in Colorado supports their request for a preliminary injunction against the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":244625,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11763],"tags":[12750,64226,18166,415,18331,14863,26784,13236,5129,62200,3480,62077],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-244624","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alabama","tag-alabama","tag-autauga-prattville-public-library","tag-book-bans","tag-case","tag-cites","tag-colorado","tag-freely","tag-lawsuit","tag-library","tag-library-challenges","tag-read","tag-read-freely-alabama"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Read Freely Alabama cites Colorado case in library lawsuit - Som2ny Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/?p=244624\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Read Freely Alabama cites Colorado case in library lawsuit - Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Not much has happened in Read Freely Alabama\u2019s lawsuit against the Autauga-Prattville Public Library since the plaintiffs asked for a preliminary injunction in October. But the plaintiffs added a new filing last week, arguing that a decision in a similar 10th Circuit Court case in Colorado supports their request for a preliminary injunction against the [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/?p=244624\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-05-17T04:12:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Book-ban-censorship-2-scaled.webp.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1707\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/?p=244624#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/?p=244624\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/#\/schema\/person\/a66cfe5cdcbceba9b5562fe085bcaba4\"},\"headline\":\"Read Freely Alabama cites Colorado case in library lawsuit\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-17T04:12:20+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/?p=244624\"},\"wordCount\":439,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/?p=244624#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Book-ban-censorship-2-scaled.webp.webp\",\"keywords\":[\"Alabama\",\"Autauga-Prattville Public LIbrary\",\"Book bans\",\"Case\",\"Cites\",\"Colorado\",\"Freely\",\"Lawsuit\",\"Library\",\"library challenges\",\"Read\",\"Read Freely Alabama\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Alabama\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/?p=244624#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/?p=244624\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/?p=244624\",\"name\":\"Read Freely Alabama cites Colorado case in library lawsuit - Som2ny Network\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/?p=244624#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/?p=244624#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Book-ban-censorship-2-scaled.webp.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-17T04:12:20+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/?p=244624#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/?p=244624\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/?p=244624#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Book-ban-censorship-2-scaled.webp.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Book-ban-censorship-2-scaled.webp.webp\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1707},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/?p=244624#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/?bp_activities=1\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Read Freely Alabama cites Colorado case in library lawsuit\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/\",\"name\":\"Som2ny Network\",\"description\":\"Daily Deals\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Som2ny Network\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png\",\"width\":300,\"height\":86,\"caption\":\"Som2ny Network\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/#\/schema\/person\/a66cfe5cdcbceba9b5562fe085bcaba4\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Fsom2nypost.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Fsom2nypost.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Read Freely Alabama cites Colorado case in library lawsuit - Som2ny Network","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/?p=244624","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Read Freely Alabama cites Colorado case in library lawsuit - Som2ny Network","og_description":"Not much has happened in Read Freely Alabama\u2019s lawsuit against the Autauga-Prattville Public Library since the plaintiffs asked for a preliminary injunction in October. But the plaintiffs added a new filing last week, arguing that a decision in a similar 10th Circuit Court case in Colorado supports their request for a preliminary injunction against the [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/?p=244624","og_site_name":"Som2ny Network","article_published_time":"2025-05-17T04:12:20+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1707,"url":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Book-ban-censorship-2-scaled.webp.webp","type":"image\/webp"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/?p=244624#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/?p=244624"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/#\/schema\/person\/a66cfe5cdcbceba9b5562fe085bcaba4"},"headline":"Read Freely Alabama cites Colorado case in library lawsuit","datePublished":"2025-05-17T04:12:20+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/?p=244624"},"wordCount":439,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/?p=244624#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Book-ban-censorship-2-scaled.webp.webp","keywords":["Alabama","Autauga-Prattville Public LIbrary","Book bans","Case","Cites","Colorado","Freely","Lawsuit","Library","library challenges","Read","Read Freely Alabama"],"articleSection":["Alabama"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/?p=244624#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/?p=244624","url":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/?p=244624","name":"Read Freely Alabama cites Colorado case in library lawsuit - Som2ny Network","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/?p=244624#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/?p=244624#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Book-ban-censorship-2-scaled.webp.webp","datePublished":"2025-05-17T04:12:20+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/?p=244624#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/?p=244624"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/?p=244624#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Book-ban-censorship-2-scaled.webp.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Book-ban-censorship-2-scaled.webp.webp","width":2560,"height":1707},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/?p=244624#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/?bp_activities=1"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Read Freely Alabama cites Colorado case in library lawsuit"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/","name":"Som2ny Network","description":"Daily Deals","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/#organization","name":"Som2ny Network","url":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png","width":300,"height":86,"caption":"Som2ny Network"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/#\/schema\/person\/a66cfe5cdcbceba9b5562fe085bcaba4","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Fsom2nypost.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Fsom2nypost.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/som2nypost.com"],"url":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244624","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=244624"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244624\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/244625"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=244624"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=244624"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=244624"},{"taxonomy":"dealstore","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fdealstore&post=244624"},{"taxonomy":"offerexpiration","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fofferexpiration&post=244624"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}