You Can Now Go to Court For Having Certain Books in Virginia

Librarians, educators, families, and many others could land in court for making books available to others.

Sign the petition to fight book bans!

Does this sound constitutional to you? 

The ACLU is fighting to dismiss obscenity proceedings against two books.

Owning, lending, and selling Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe and A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas could land you in a Virginia court. Or, rather, anyone who "publishes, sells, rents, lends, transports, . . . or commercially distributes or exhibits the books." 

Virginia residents can now be placed under legal action for distributing these books, despite having no prior knowledge of these new laws. They can then be summoned to court with as little as four days' notification, meaning that many will be unable to appear and dispute the charges. 

The ACLU has pointed out that the statute drummed up to implement these new crackdowns on these books is being misused and misconstrued. 

This places librarians, educators, families, and many others in the line of fire. 

Sign the petition to fight book bans!

To make matters worse, the definition of "obscenity" is determined at the local level making this new legislation uniquely challenging to combat at the state level. 

Stay informed via the ACLU's website as they challenge these new Virginia laws. EveryLibrary is tracking an alarming rise in obscenity laws across the United States that will place librarians and teachers at risk of prosecution.