Federal Judge Permanently Blocks Texas’s “READER Act,” Citing Multiple First Amendment Violations

In a decisive ruling, Judge Alan D. Albright of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas has once again struck down the controversial “READER Act,” declaring it unconstitutional and issuing a permanent injunction against its enforcement.

The law, which sought to compel booksellers to rate every title sold to public school libraries for “sexually explicit” or “sexually relevant” content, was found to violate the First Amendment on multiple fronts.

Judge Albright—who previously ruled against the measure in 2023 before it was appealed—agreed with plaintiffs including Blue Willow Bookshop, BookPeople, the American Booksellers Association (ABA), the Association of American Publishers (AAP), the Authors Guild, and the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund that the statute “can and does violate the First Amendment in several ways.”

In his opinion, Albright outlined the key constitutional breaches:

• The READER Act imposes unconstitutional conditions on businesses, forcing them to surrender their First Amendment rights to contract with public schools.
• It compels speech, requiring booksellers to make subjective and controversial judgments about content and adopt state-imposed ratings “against their will.”
• It infringes on booksellers’ right to remain silent or refrain from government-directed speech, a core protection under the First Amendment.

“The government may not deny Plaintiffs the right to sell books to public schools on a basis that infringes their constitutionally protected interests,” Albright wrote.

In a joint statement, the coalition of plaintiffs hailed the ruling as a landmark victory for free expression and small business owners across Texas:

“Today’s decision affirms the constitutional rights of authors, booksellers, publishers, and readers, and protects bookstores from the imposition of an unreasonable law that would have threatened their viability. We thank Judge Albright for a critically important ruling that is clear, concise, and extremely well-reasoned.”

The ruling brings a strong rebuke to state-level attempts to regulate book content in public schools and underscores the judiciary’s continued defense of free speech and intellectual freedom in the face of politically motivated censorship efforts.

Judge Albright’s decision not only blocks the READER Act but also sets a vital precedent reaffirming that the government cannot compel private citizens—or booksellers—to become instruments of censorship.